Hockey Sound slide Show

The Lyndon State Club Hockey team has already faced some unexpected adversities early on in the season. The first thing that the team had to overcome was the lack of proper ice at the “Fenton Chester Arena,” the team lost a week of on ice practice due to the ice being too soft. The ice also had suffered holes and cracks during some of the practices and we had to set up cones around the affected areas to prevent people skating on concrete. The second thing was the lack of the player’s conditioning, combined with a weeklong break before the preseason games verse Castleton. This left the Hornet’s at a great disadvantage because the Castleton Spartan’s had a team made up of mostly seniors who had been practicing and have already played in two games this season. In addition to all these disadvantages the Hornets have a younger team this year due to the seven new freshman in the lineup. Although some of the freshman are good players individually they still need time to build team chemistry as well as get used to the level of play. On top of everything the team also just recently lost their Captain and lead scorer Tim Patten last year. The Hornet’s practiced every day Saturday through Thursday the week after break (before the two preseason games Friday and Saturday against Castleton, which don’t count towards anything). To make up for the lack of ice time the rink has offered all members of the team free stick and puck ice sessions for two weeks strait. Though not everyone goes to these since they have classes at the scheduled times; some players who have some free time take advantage of the free ice time to work on their weaknesses such as their shot and stick handling. Unfortunately the Hornet’s lost both preseason games against Castleton. But as a result the Hornets have learned a lot about themselves through the two losses. The team now knows where they need to strengthen their game as well as how to carry themselves better in a game situation. After another whole week of practice the Hornet’s face the Coast Guard Academy this Friday at home which counts for a regular season game.