Sports

Skating without ice

Club team has playoff spot, national rank

By Nick Dyer

Posted on April 07, 2008, at 12:00 a.m.

When most University of Maine students have already started their weekend, the UMaine Club Roller Hockey team is fine-tuning their skills at the Student Recreation Center. Under heavy pads and dripping sweat, each player pushes a little harder in the cramped makeshift roller rink, to make sure all their wheels are spinning in the right direction. Playing Division II for the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA), the men’s team has advanced to this month’s National Championship in Colorado Springs.

“I think we can do pretty well,” said roller hockey President Carey Gustanski. “We were the second-highest scoring team in our region out of 16 teams, and fourth highest in the nation out of 54 teams in average goals per game.”

The team has advanced to the national championship four out the five years that they’ve competed in the ECRHA; in each of the first three years they placed third place at the competition.

The team went undefeated during the second semester of play after adding new players to the roster.

The UMaine Club Roller Hockey team is now entering its fifth year as a recognized sport, but is largely unrecognized by the students here at the university. Standing in the shadows of UMaine’s powerhouse ice hockey team the smaller and often unappreciated roller hockey team plays for the love of the game, rather than fan support.

“Basically we’re just a group of kids that like to play hockey,” Gustanski said. “It would be nice to have the opportunity to play Division I college hockey, but we have no problem with playing just to have fun.”

The team is not just overlooked by students here at school, but overlooked by many teams they play against in tournaments. Because UMaine already has a varsity ice hockey team, the little known club roller hockey team relies on money given to them by Student Government and $300 per player for team dues.

The money for team dues goes to things like renting a rickety old van to bring the players and all their equipment down to Connecticut or Pennsylvania for a tournament, paying for a hotel for the weekend at the less classy EconoLodge and other things the team may encounter during their season.

While teams they compete against recruit players and offer scholarships to serious roller hockey players, the little-known UMaine team tries to recruit players each year by word of mouth.

“We have a table on the mall at freshman orientation. We look for high school players sometimes in Maine. If we have a freshman from Maine playing for the team, we’ll ask him if he knows of any other good kids coming to the university next year and maybe will follow up and ask him,” Gustanski said.

“Other schools will actively look for players by posting announcements on roller hockey message boards. Most teams put a little more effort in recruiting players than we do,” Gustanski said.

The change from ice hockey to roller hockey might seem like an easy thing for incoming players, but a change in the game offers a little more challenge in the transition. The change from ice hockey to roller hockey usually puts the team at a disadvantage each year while the new comers learn the style of play.

“I feel like it takes the new players about a semester to get [used] to the new feeling of the game,” Gustanski said. “It’s still hockey, but the skating style is a lot different from roller to ice. You can’t stop as quick as you can on ice, and you have no edges, so the turning is different in roller hockey. The puck bounces differently. It’s just a different game.”

The University of Maine club Roller Hockey team, who competes with the best teams on the east coast, has made an appearance in the national tournament four out of the five years that they have been a club, finishing third in the nation twice.

“We didn’t make it to nationals last year for the first time and that was because a snow storm kept us from traveling down to Pennsylvania to compete in the regionals, so we had to forfeit,” Gustanski said.

Along with paying $300 a season to play, the players also have to juggle schoolwork and a social life. The team practices about three times a week: two times on the new court in the Student Rec. Center with rollerblades and once on the ice at the Alfond Arena with ice skates. Because the team doesn’t have a real roller rink to practice on like the rest of the teams they play, a practice on the ice puts them at, yet again, another disadvantage.

With some of the disadvantages the team has faced throughout the season and throughout the years they don’t let it hold them back, but rather joke about it and make light of the situation.

“We laugh at teams who show up to games in a fancy bus and sweat suits because they put so much effort into appearing to be professional, and then we go out there and beat most of these teams, so it’s kind of gratifying. We just show up to play hockey and have a good time,” Gustanski said.

As for the season so far, it’s looking like the little team from Maine will make the playoffs once again and make another run at a Roller Hockey National Championship.

“We started out slow in the first semester because people needed to adjust to the new playing style. This semester we have looked a lot better and some key additions have made us a stronger team,” Gustanski said.

The team will travel to Colorado for the tournament this month – expenses for the 11 players traveling will be paid for by the players.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.