I have played ice hockey for almost my entire life. I am pretty good, but obviously you will not find me on the roster of the nation's No.1 ranked ice hockey team. For the many of us hockey lovers that attend this University (a school which is growing in hockey tradition) and are not NHL prospects, it is really disappointing that the only playing time we have to look forward to are the 5 short hockey games over the next two weeks.
The Interhall ice hockey here is a joke. Our season starts tomorrow night, and if we do not make the playoffs it will be over in exactly two weeks. How does this school have the top ranked varsity team in the country and then the next level down is this? There is no club team, and unless you fork over the hundreds of dollars it costs to join a men's league in South Bend you are out of luck.
The games are played after midnight (not very helpful for academics), they last well less than an hour, and they do not accommodate players who have experience. It's great that people want to learn how to play, but this is the only chance I get to relive playing competitively after high school and I don't think it is fair to anyone for players similar to me to skate with kids that have never skated before.
I don't see why it would be difficult to make the interhall season at least one game per week, and have it last six to eight weeks at least, and then playoffs. Of course, the games should be a little longer so everyone can get more than five minutes of playing time. It would give hockey players something really to look forward to during second semester.
Matthew McManus
sophomore
Fisher Hal
Jan. 27
