On the Road to Nationals, UCF Gives Back…

UCF Hockey Nationals

After a snowy weekend in Atlanta, it was time to forget about the past and look to the future. The regular season is history and it all comes down to the biggest tournament of the year, The NCRHA National Championships. The playoff beards started, treadmills brought out of storage, and the jocks and socks stay unwashed!! After the regional championship event we had one practice and then the all infamous “Spring Break.” With players traveling all over the world, and doing things many wouldn’t approve, the team would have to work extra hard upon their return. With practices doubled, exhibition games scheduled, and plenty of “chalk talk” everyone got right back into things. Players looked back on previous losses and worked on trying to tweak things so that this would not be repeated.

Even with such a massive tournament coming up, everyone still needs to have a little fun. First off the entire team participated in the UCF Relay for Life. For anyone unfamiliar with this event, it is a tremendous, nationwide fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. This was the second consecutive year in attendance, and plan on attending for every year in the future. On top of being present at the Relay for Life event, there is a floor hockey challenge set up as an additional fundraiser. The event is called “Clash of the Titans” and is a Floor Hockey game that the UCF Roller Team will be challenging the UCF Ice Team. Entrance is free for anyone, and it is taking place at the UCF Gym Saturday March 28th at 6pm.

In the past the team put on a few free youth clinics in partnership with the league and with Mission Hockey. This time they went out on their own and put on a clinic for the local community and city of Orlando. It was a great success, and was also an excellent marketing campaign. Lastly, with an entire season of everyone bonding on and around the rink, it was finally time to do some quality team building off the rink as well. Paintball was the majority vote, and after an amazing night it is understandable why. With a few welts and dirt covered bodies, the night was just another memory to add to the scrap book. It is definitely something that will be included in the schedule for the seasons to come.

Both teams will be leaving on the morning of Wednesday April 1st for nationals. While at the tournament please check our web site and www.slammhockey.com for daily blog updates. The scores can be found on our site or live at www.NCRHA.org. Please take a look at all the new pictures added and our new sponsor’s web site, Chamba Hockey.

BACK TO BACK!!!

Amidst being stuck in the middle of Atlanta’s 2nd worst snow storm in history, the UCF Knights won the South East Regional Championships. Entering the tournament as the top seed, the knights had an easy run through the weekend. The first game was against East Carolina and it started off a little rough. That didn’t last long, with a blow out win of 9 to 4. The next game was against NC State who had beaten us the first game of the season. We wanted payback, and demolished them with a 12-2 final. This win was done so with the help of sophomore Connor Cafferty who had 7 pts in the game.

Winning both of these games gave us the top seed entering into the playoffs. We found ourselves playing NC State again in the Semi Final game, and it was just a recap from the day before. Once again an astonishing 4 point performance by Connor Cafferty, with the nicest of his goals being an Ovechkin style goal from the ground. It was so impressive players from the other team were complimenting him. After a short break, we met our arch rivals, The Florida Gators. This game started off unpleasant with Florida scoring on their first shift.But it all ended there, we then came out flying and scored 7 unanswered goals to take the lead 7-1. This was done so with the help of senior and veteran Brandon Reich who had 4 points including 2 amazing snipes. The final was 8 to 5 and we were crowned the South East Regional Champions.

This is the 8th D1 regional championship title UCF has won in the past 12 years. The B team has also won the regional championship this year to help fulfill the back to back wins in both divisions. Both teams are now headed to Philadelphia, PA for the national championships April 1st through the 5th.

The team also has a few marketing and fundraising events coming up. On March 20th the whole organization will be participating in the UCF Relay for Life, where the team will walk laps in honor of cancer patients, survivors, and victims. As a fundraiser for this event, the team has challenged the Ice Hockey Club to a game of Intramural Floor Hockey at the UCF gym. This will be a huge event on March. 28th at 6pm, and should be lots of fun.  Lastly, we will be doing a free youth clinic for local kids in the Orlando area on March 21st. The Knights are planning on finishing the season strong and hoping to again have two final four finishes at this year’s national championships.