Hockey Club returns for first time since COVID-19 pandemic began

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Hockey Club returns for first time since COVID-19 pandemic began
The Hillsdale Hockey Team. Rachel Kookogey | Collegian

The Hillsdale Club Hockey Team has returned to the ice this semester after a year off caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every Sunday, the team’s nine members travel to Optimist Ice Arena in Jackson to play in the beer league. 

“A lot of guys on the team have played for several years, some have played for basically their whole life, and some guys are newer to the sport,” senior Ryan Perkins said. “The guys who are more experienced are just helping the newer guys learn how to play. But overall, everybody’s there to have fun and enjoy playing as a team.” 

The club started during the 2019-2020 school year, but they took a break last season because of the rink’s mask mandate for players and the college’s policy that club sports avoid interactions with other schools and teams at that time. 

“It’s exciting to be back, but it’s very early in the season,” junior Eamonn Weed said. “At Hillsdale we’re very focused on academics, and that’s a good thing. So with the club hockey team, we’re not trying to be division two athletes, like some of our actual student athletes. We’re just having a good time. And it’s a good way to reconnect with a part of my past and do something that I love outside of school.” 

Hockey Club President and senior Zachary Niebolt jumped through a series of hoops to found the club: he met with club sports director Brad Kocher, proved the student body’s interest, worked out logistics, and completed paperwork. 

“I will say Zack has been extremely central to getting the team going, keeping it moving, and getting the guys together,” Perkins said. “Also, just keeping the team excited to play. Zack’s definitely been the guide for our team.”

The team practices every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in the outdoor rink set up by alumnus Craig Connor ’77, who was a member of the college’s former varsity hockey team. According to Niebolt, Connor’s rink is almost the size of a full National Hockey League rink complete with boards, nets, and extra skates. 

“They had a pretty famous coach Ted Lindsay, who was a coach with the Red Wings and a player for a long time in the NHL,” Niebolt said. “But Hillsdale has not wanted to add any more varsity sports recently. I talked to Dr. Arnn about it, and he said the college needs another sports team ‘like I need another nose,’ so there isn’t much hope for a varsity team these days. So we will be content with the club for now.”

“It’s just awesome to have that resource,” Weed said. “Jackson is a 40-minute drive, so it’s a longer trip on weekends. Craig Connor has been so hospitable to the guys on the team and students, inviting them to come out and skate on his rink. It’s great to see an alumnus of Hillsdale and the hockey program giving back to this community.” 

The team will play, not in an intercollegiate division, but against a group of 30-50 men called the beer league, named after their tradition of playing games for a case of beer. The main motivation is the difference between the $700 necessary to play intercollegiate versus $250 to play the beer league. 

“There’s a whole span of these guys,” Perkins said. “Some of these guys used to play in college, so they’re pretty good. Some of them are definitely not super experienced. We never really know what we’re gonna get. A lot of them are just there to hang out with their buddies and have fun, and then we show up and we’re super competitive.” 

Students can find updates on the team and their games on Instagram @hillsdalehockey. The team will play nine games in the next nine weeks. 

“Hockey is the fastest, most exciting sport, I would argue,” Niebolt said. “There’s nothing quite like seeing a bunch of guys with knives on their feet skate around as fast as they can, hit each other, and shoot really hard pieces of rubber at each other. It’s uniquely Michigan. And we’re good.”