The cheers from the American
Heartland Ice Arena in Lincolnwood showed the enthusiasm for
Northwestern's men's club ice hockey team as they took the ice for
the second game of the winter season Friday evening.
The private arena, just miles from NU's Evanston campus, is the
new home of the developing team.
"It reminds me of my favorite rink back home," Derrick
Fansler-Wald, co-captain and club president, said.
The rink replaces the Robert Crown Sports Arena. With training
facilities such as a weight room and a rock-climbing wall, the new
arena offers NU hockey players a chance to improve their record.
Fansler-Wald, a McCormick junior, said that since they now have
their own storage room, their gear is ready to go when the players
arrive.
"It feels like we're a real program now," Fansler-Wald said.
Decorations in the new arena include a large NU banner that
adorns the front of the building, which Weinberg sophomore Sean
O'Neill said is one of many aspects giving the team a new feeling of
home.
Coupled with the zeal that accompanies moving into a new arena,
the team also has a new head coach who players say has pumped up the
intensity and effectiveness of team practices.
Co-captain Spencer Worley, a Weinberg junior, said the new coach,
Jeff Skala, knows a great deal about hockey. Players come off the
ice exhausted after completing new drills and exercises designed to
enhanced their agility as well as their gusto.
"This is going to be a huge slingshot for the rest of the
season," Worley said.
Skala, who has experience with the Chicago Minor Hawks, said he
hopes to offer his bench expertise and leadership as a way to
achieve winning results and push players to the higher limits.
The team is working through its probationary status, which club
sports manager Peter Parcell imposed after an unidentified fan
disrupted a gam at the end of the fall season.
"People are willing to work harder when there is something to
gain," Fansler-Wald said.
The team is now working even harder to convince their fans and
peers that they are here to stay.
"We're on probation because our fans had too much fun,"
Fansler-Wald said.
Since the team rejoined the American Collegiate Hockey
Association, focus has been placed on informing NU alumni who were
part of a previous hockey legacy. Support has come in response to a
newsletter that informed recipients about the developmental status
of the team.
As the season continues, the team has been pressed for funds and
had to cut practice pucks and home jerseys out of their budget to
pay for ice time.
"For now, the team is operating in a bare-bones kind of way,"
said David Crepps, club treasurer and a McCormick senior.
In order to generate publicity, the players have positioned
posters and pictures around campus to boost attendance and rally
support.
The players said they hope more students will take advantage of
the free admission and transportation the team has offered in an
attempt to show NU that they are serious about their sport.
"It is nowhere but up from here," co-captain and McCormick junior
Nik Hrabe said.
The last home game of the season is on Saturday, Feb. 9.
"Just give us a chance: Come out and support us. It's a fun
time," O'Neill said.
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