by Nicholas Leahey
When you walk into the locker room of the Central Connecticut Men’s Club Ice Hockey Team (6-6-0), you notice one undeniable fact: it stinks.
Upon closer inspection of the cluttered room, which is filled a mixed smell of men’s deodorant and dirty hockey equipment, you can see ice skates, jerseys, and blue hockey helmets marked “Central” placed neatly in their respective places in each stall.
“We are unlike any other club,” said team captain Matthew Lis. “We put in just as much time and effort as any other sports team.”
The team, which plays their home games at Newington Ice Arena, is a part of the Super East Conference of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). The conference includes other schools such as Siena College, Marist College, New York University, as well as William Paterson University, their self-proclaimed rivals.
“They like to play cheap,” said Club President Patrick Dowd, who plays center forward. “It’s always a good game.”
The team is comprised of players who have all grown up playing the game they love, with some playing since they were five years old. Like all athletes, each player had their own idol growing up.
“I definitely looked up to John Tavares,” said player Brendon Quirion.
Because the entirety of the team is from Connecticut, some players played for rival schools going through middle school and high school, while others played together. Dowd himself played high school hockey with fellow teammates Quirion and Max Maffucci.
Regardless of prior affiliations, however, all players have learned to work and come together as a team. The result has been a strong comradery among the players that can be seen in a number of ways.
“It’s like a brotherhood,” said Quirion. “It is just a different feeling going out there with the guys.”
The ability to function well as a team has played a big role in the team’s performance and lead to their relative success over the past few years. The team made it to nationals during the 2009-2010 season, and has qualified for the regional tournament several times since.
Individual motivations for choosing to play hockey over other sports vary widely, but it is clear that every player is there for the love for the sport — even if they don’t say it straight to you.
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Jack Johnson jokingly. “It’s for the chicks.”
All members of the team take an immense amount of pride in their play, and have challenged themselves in taking on NCAA registered teams, including a game coming up in late February against Post University. They also say they have staked their claim as the “bad boys of the Super East.”
“We play to win,” said Lis.
Winning is what they hope to accomplish in their next game on Saturday Feb. 6^th when they take on rivals William Patterson.
Aside from the ability to drink in the stands, the team says their games are always fun to watch.
“Our games can get out of hand sometimes,” said Dowd. “And that’s what the crowd likes.”