Isabel Abarca
Senior Sports Writer
The Wooster club ice hockey team is looking towards a new and improved season. The players on the squad hope to perform well and draw more fans out to their games.
This year the ice hockey team has a new head coach, who is expected to bring this team to a higher level. With any new coach there comes unfamiliarity, but many of the players are excited to learn Coach Jech’s systems and style of play out on the ice while getting to know him more personally too as the season progresses. This will also help to create a new atmosphere within the team.
Aside from the dynamics within the team and their own challenges and improvements for this season, they are also hoping to grow their fan base. Many Wooster students know nothing about the club ice hockey team. This is something that the ice hockey players hope to change. It is one of the challenges they are hoping to overcome throughout the course of the still-young season. With a club team it is not only difficult to draw fans out to the games but also to get all the players to the games. There are a few multi-sport athletes that have a priority to their varsity sport before the club hockey team.
“Being a club sport makes it difficult in [that] we are often made into a second thought rather than a priority,” said William Owen ’16 “But we have quite a bit more depth and dedicated players this year than last, so we don’t have to worry about losing a couple players quite as much as before.”
These few obstacles that the team has to face will be managed and made up for with their determination and positivity. Within the team there are a few seniors, including Carl Freeman, Connor Brown, Ben Pfister and Zane Polston, who will be vital contributors to the team where leadership and experience are concerned.
This team is a particularly young team. There are only two upperclassmen other than those already mentioned, bringing it to a grand total of six. This means the squad, composed of 23 players, is very young. This leaves room for improvement and growth for multiple seasons ahead, working with their new but to this point inexperienced head coach.
Although the hockey team has worked hard to compete and win games, it has also tried to maintain a positive and enjoyable environment. “We want to grow as a team overall,” said Owen.
“We want to grow our fan base. We want to feel comfortable as a team and get used to each other’s play styles.”
Overall, the team is hoping that with a new coach and a young team they will earn a better record than in previous years. They look to build momentum for the program as a whole for years to come. The team will play at home in Alice Noble Ice Arena tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against Wittenberg University.