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Episode 4: Ryan Chambre and Florida State Hockey · College Hockey Mouth

• speaker-0: Hello everybody and welcome back to College Hockey Mouth, a College Hockey South podcast. We're pleased to bring you episode four as we continue to roll on. First month down on the podcast. Pretty proud of that. For all the people that have been on, we continue with a rotating cast of co hosts. My name is Devin Serra. I'm joined tonight by our two co hosts, Noah Bland and Aaron Blank. Boys, welcome to the pod. ⁓ Noah, I'll start with you. Sort of introduce yourself and ⁓ a little bit about yourself. speaker-1: Gonna preface this by saying I'm not in a loony bin. This is ⁓ the University of Maryland's recording studio. I know I know it looks kind of wacky, but I'm Noah Bland. And as I said, I go to the University of Maryland. I do broadcasting for Big Ten Plus. I've done broadcasting all over the Washington, DC area, and I am gonna be the director of broadcast operations. at the upcoming Columbus Classic. Everyone's very excited about that. ⁓ Aaron, who's gonna go next after me, is also gonna be with us and Aaron's Aaron's just gonna be phenomenal. So everybody get excited about that. And I'll hand it over to you, Mr. Blank. Uhhuh. speaker-2: I'm Aaron Blank. I'm in my apartment in Athens, Georgia here. I go to the University of Georgia. So we got a big football game coming up this weekend. So everybody around here is excited about that. But we also obviously got some big hockey coming up too. Yeah, I have some background with a lot of in the ice crew side. I have done some pro hockey ice crew with the Atlanta Gladiators and now the Athens Rock Lobsters here and just two really good organizations. Yeah. Rock Lobsters f had their first season last year, new season coming this year. It's really good. So it's going good in here. speaker-0: Welcome boys. Should be fun and two different sides of the country, two different school atmospheres entirely, although I will say Maryland's pretty solid at football, but Georgia, no brainer, you're talking about a team about to play Tennessee this week. Should be a fun one over there. We've got a very awesome interview coming up and an awesome week to talk about. We started off the college hockey south season with a couple of games and some of them were down to the wire and almost took extra time and others were Completely lopsided. We'll get to those a little bit later. First, we'd like to welcome in our next guest on the College Hockey Mouth podcast, Ryan Chambre, the senior captain for Florida State's hockey team up there in Tallahassee. Ryan, welcome to the podcast. speaker-2: Yeah, thank you for the introduction and thanks for having me on here. I'm really happy to be, you know, here tonight talking with you guys. So yeah. speaker-0: Absolutely. And your team right now has garnered a lot of buzz considering you guys have had ⁓ an awesome social media presence over the past couple of years. The jerseys are insane. ⁓ you guys have been kinda made famous for your alumni organization and how far you guys have to travel over to play your games and we'll talk to you about that more. But first let's talk about you a bit. Explain to us growing up, you played hockey in Fort Myers and grew up in the f in the state of Florida. So tell us about growing up and playing hot. speaker-2: Yeah, so I'm from Southwest Florida, which from Fort Myers, Florida, which is kind of near Naples. Really somewhere you wouldn't expect to find someone playing hockey, but I don't know if you guys are familiar with the ⁓ Florida Everblades on the ECHL. So they have they have really nice facilities down there. They have a couple practice rinks. So yeah, that's where I started growing up playing hockey. So I started around playing when I was like a mite in squirt that kind of age, and I just fell in love with it, you know, growing up. Just hockey became such a big part of my life and I just loved it. Like everything I did was hockey. I didn't really play any other sports. Growing up, it was all hockey for me. So I grew up playing down there, like for six or seven years, just like bouncing between double A teams and ⁓ triple A teams. I don't know if you guys know the Florida Alliance, but they are one of the only triple A teams in Florida. So it's pretty competitive to make that team and be part of it. But I was lucky, you know, for a few years to be able to play. at that level with such like good players too growing up. ⁓ I was also lucky I had a little brother, little sister playing too, so I kinda forced my little brother into goalie by just ripping shots at him when I was younger. But so that's where he became a really great goalie. Anyways, when I was in junior in high school I played ⁓ U-16 AA at the Florida Junior Everblades and I also dual rostered with their USPHL team there. So that's when I kinda dipped my toes in and junior hockey and I I love juniors so much man playing there and then my senior year of high school I switched to ⁓ the Florida Eels of the USP HL. They have like a little rink in Fort Myers. So just playing at the Florida Eels, man, it was just it was different. It was just just junior hockey in general. Like it was just the grind. Like you're at the rink every day. You work out for hours every day. Like you do video, you do off ice. So I played a lot of junior I love juniors and I kind of came to that crossroad that you know, every junior hockey player comes to and I think I see this a lot recently, but you as a junior player you have like a decision to play like, you know, a gap year, two gap years, even three gap years to try to make that N C A level. Or you can take that alternate route and just, you know, go to college and get your degree. So at that time I was definitely more lenient on playing a couple gap years, but I think my parents were Pretty influential on me going to go to college and get my degree. So I kind of applied to every school just for the heck of it, just you know why not? And it was COVID year, so I think a lot of schools were lenient on the grades and accepting, which kind of worked out in my favor a little bit. So I kinda toured every school that year, and the last school I toured was Florida State. I didn't really feel like a connection at any other school, but When I got up here to Florida State, I don't know if any of you have been, but I think it's just like such a pretty campus. Like I think one of the most beautiful campuses in the state of Florida. And I fell in love with it. And at that time I knew they did not have a hockey rink, but I knew they did have a club team somehow. Whatever the case was for me, I knew I was gonna try and play and make it happen. So then now I guess four years later here I am, playing still, playing in this huge league now we're in the ACHA, which I can't believe That's actually happening. So yeah, now we're here. speaker-0: Yeah, it's so awesome to hear about your journey in Florida. You've basically been the entire experience for, you know, small hockey and triple A and like you mentioned, minor junior, a lot of trips to Hertz Arena, I imagine. You know, is there a lot of players you guys have come across? Is there guys that you're playing with currently that you played with before on some of those teams? Like the Eels, like some of those Everblade programs, and like are you playing against some of them even in this league? speaker-2: Yeah, so it's really funny. Like on the team right now we have, you know, six total guys at Florida State from that area, which I've been playing with who I know. And it's funny whenever I we travel, go to another place. Like I always seem to know someone on another team who I've played with. So it just shows like how much the game has grown. Like especially in the Florida leagues and how a lot of players just like me decided to pick that college route and then pick instead of you know grinding three more gap years. ⁓ a lot of people decided to take that college route during COVID time and just I think that's a big reason why the league just blew up. Like CHS is so huge now, multiple teams in every div like at every school. So it's it's truly an honor just to like be a part of all this. speaker-1: We appreciate having you on. Kinda I'm gonna pivot over here to your playing style. ⁓ I noticed you're an offensive defenseman in terms of points. You score a lot of points offensively. I believe it was twenty-five last year ⁓ in a in a small number of games. I wanna kinda ask you from the perspective of a defenseman, how do you balance your offensive play and also kind of manning the blue line, getting back on the back check? speaker-2: Okay, so ⁓ I'll just I'll just set it straight here. So I did play forward last season, so that's probably why my stats look a little boosted right there. Just cause we had a lot of senior guys leave, so the coach just decided to ⁓ throw me up on forward and I guess it worked out for the best. But I've always been a defenseman at heart and I've played for like, you know, the past few years as a D-man. But just balancing that, I would say one of the biggest strengths for me w back when I was like a freshman and sophomore, fresh out of juniors, was my speed. I would always constantly try to move the puck up with my skates. And I think that was the biggest strength for me. ⁓ and just my IQ, just making sure that, you know, if you do skate the puck up, you gotta get back, and making sure like if you're in the zone, making sure someone's back. ⁓ I'd say that's the biggest strength. But, you know, I didn't mean to like throw you guys off if I I don't know what the stats say, like what my position is on elite prospects or like CHS, but I did play forward last season and I'm planning on playing forward this upcoming season too, if everything works out. speaker-0: Hey, ⁓ a a first team all conference guy, I think you did something right there to earn some accolades. What's interesting too about about your style is you have a lot of guys in your team that play like a I'd say a pretty fast game and you guys specifically in the later half of the year last year got really good. You had an impressive performance against FAU D three. I guess like what are some guys currently on the team that like you gel best with and what kind of produces a lot of that offense for you guys? speaker-2: I just think that just we're such a unique team that I can get to, you know, not practicing later, but just like as a team right now, just like you know, we we have a lot of speedsters on the team, we have a lot of heavy hitters on the team, you know, we have a lot of playmakers. It's just like you don't know what you're gonna get because the recruiting is so weird for, you know, trying to get kick guys to play that we kinda just you know, we take what we can get 'cause A lot of guys will come to Florida State and a lot of guys fill out the recruiting form and are like, you know, but there's no rink here. You know, I really don't wanna put that much effort into traveling. So it's like we kinda get you know, we get what we get, but you know, it turns out that what we get actually like is very good and we all bond together. I think it's just the culture we have at Florida State that on our team we have a culture like no other team where we're all in that same boat. Of just like, you know, we're all getting a little rusty, we all, you know, getting a little wash as they say. But we always find a way to put our strengths or each of one of us individual strengths first when we play. And I think that's how we come on top most of these games. Just like really like if you're like outside looking in and you s like you hear you see us winning games, you're like, ⁓ you know, good for them, but then you hear like we don't practice ever. Like we had our only practice of the fall. last Sunday. So I think it's pretty impressive and I think we all play to our strengths and we all play for each other just 'cause we're all in that same boat of just like we go through a lot of adversity together, which is like, ⁓ no practice, you know, trying to stay as most positive as we can. speaker-1: Also, you you talk a lot about that culture and I I I love that. So in general, I think at Florida State there is there's a big game culture. You're a big sports school and it shows you guys got the chance, you guys have the the seminal come out. But really to you, what does it mean to be a seminal? speaker-2: ⁓ wow, I mean it's just huge being able to represent, you know, the team this way. Like just the school this way as being a part of the team. We're like the only ice hockey team on campus. I know it's not really the same for that for a lot of schools anymore. So just being able to represent the school just like in that way is huge. Like and just like every one of us feels the same way. Just like we represent Florida State like no matter what. And it gets kinda tricky sometimes with like, you know, for marketing purposes, like We're not allowed to wear the black jerseys anymore, which kinda sucks just because of like licensing. But no matter like what, you know, licensing hits us with or s like sports clubs hits us this, like we always battle back and it's just putting the team forward, like just growing this program, hopefully in the future, moving up divisions and even adding more teams, like dealing with we with we do. I think it's pretty impressive and I think that's what every single person wants to see this program like become. Like really like impress wow some people like and pushing up in the divisions as well. So just I'm proud to be a seminal. Everyone is proud to be a seminal on the team. You know, our win song, we usually play the war chant and we did a lot of winning last year. So that was kind of what you heard if you were around our locker room last year. So yeah, I mean I everyone just bleeds garnet and gold up here on our team and it's just awesome to see and just be around. So you talk about that ⁓ sense of community you have with your with your team and you know those traditions you have. ⁓ do you have any ⁓ any one particular memory stand out to you ⁓ while you've been playing at FSU? I mean, I I have so many memories that stand out for me. Like this was the I think from being from juniors going to the college, you know, being kinda indecisive on what you think. Like looking back now, I have no regrets on just being on the team. I've made I made so many memories. We could talk like all night about every every memory I have. Like we've had so many so many characters like come and go throughout the team. I would definitely say like the Savannah hockey classic when we were back in it was I think everyone's favorite memory. I really don't know why we got kind of kicked out of there, even though we beat Georgia Tech last year and hopefully we're able to get back in there one day. But I think I think that if you ask like the people who've graduated who got the chance to play in it, because I played in it my freshman and sophomore year. So a lot of the guys who played in it are gone. But I think that was like the best memory. And also just playing, I think my f so my freshman and sophomore year, we played a UF at the Vystar arena in Jacksonville, downtown Jacksonville. It's ⁓ the J Iceman arena, 30 CHL team. So I think playing in that arena too was just like awesome. Just like playing in big arenas like that, and just like you see like Florida State packs the house. Like you see a lot of Florida State fans just come out to these like club games. So it It makes it mean something even more and just impacts your play, like takes it to the next level. So I think definitely Savannah just playing in big rings is the best memories I have like on the ice with the team. speaker-0: You talked about playing in Jacksonville and I think that's like the the elephant in the room is that you guys don't have that campus. There's work being pitched, petitioned by multiple people in Tallahassee. We know you have a great alumni association that's trying to make those moves happen with the right people. But what does that look like for your your guys? Are you guys all hopping in one of your guys' vans or someone's car to get over to the rink and like you said, practice is limited, like What's that just daily like or weekly like trying to get over there and play in that that rink that's somewhat far away? speaker-2: Yeah, so you don't understand how much like I get that question. It's tough, you know? Like it's usually once a semester. We just it's at the beginning of every semester, like our tryout is our practice. So it's like we just had it last Sunday. We're gonna have another practice in February, or gonna be like our s our second practice of our near season right before playoffs, just might as well prime ourselves. But You know, it's hard, man. Like you hear rumors every year, every single year a different rumor. There's like a Fed team or S P team or you know, ECHL team, there might be a you know, there might build a new rink. So you hear all these rumors, but you eventually get to the point where you try to just kind of accept it a little bit. Like I know I was more optimistic as a freshman sophomore than I am now that we're gonna get ICE in Tallahassee. But you just you have to make the most of it and just stay positive. Like use those eight minutes you get for warm-ups, you know, to shake off the rust. That's what a lot of us like, that's our mentality going to games. It's like we have eight minutes. All right, let's shake off the rust, you know, get some good stick handle in there, get some good shots, and then just choke for the game. But I think maybe, you know, with the culture improving so much throughout the team, I think guys maybe this year are willing to sacrifice like a Friday night to just go down to Jacksonville skate. ⁓ the season just started, so I don't really know how that will like play out down the road. But as of right now, we run conditioning Tuesday, Wednesdays at the IM fields on campus. So there's really only so much you can do. So we'll run conditioning like half the time like we do sprints and, you know, other agility work. And then the other half the time, you know, there's only so much you can do. So You know, I like have fun with the team, so we usually go out there play like, you know, kickball, soccer or football just to like be with each other and to just like have as much fun as you can, you know, and not having rink really does suck, you know. It's just like we can't practice a breakout or a power play, but we figure it out in the games. So just stuff like that. It's just trying to have like the most fun we can off the ice and then just, you know, when we show up We put our work in in the warm up, we w stretch good and then we just work our asses off during the game. So that's kind of that's what the biggest culture thing is right now. speaker-0: Has anyone in your room pitched the idea of maybe getting you guys hooked up with some rollerblades, an alumni, or a teammate or whoever, and getting you guys somewhere? speaker-2: Yeah, so you're gonna laugh too. So my freshman year, the ⁓ roller rink went bankrupt in Tallahassee, so I think it went bankrupt. I just closed down. So the closest roller rink is an hour away in Georgia. So we like we no no one wants to really drive like an hour away on you know, to play roller hockey. It's just and we know we have a couple of ⁓ guys that do that like once a week. Just like a few of us though. No one really but yeah, I mean a roller wink would help. Like a lot. We did my freshman year. That's what we did my freshman year. Like every Tuesday, Wednesday night we went to the roller rank, it got shut down, so then we started just running around on and having fun on the ⁓ I ⁓ fields on campus. So you know, I wish I wish something would happen, but you know, there's really there's really nothing we can do about it as players. speaker-1: Maybe ⁓ you can get just like just like the sticks out. Just get ⁓ just get street sticks and and have some fun. speaker-2: Yeah, I mean we've we've tried that too. It's like me and a few other kids like sometimes go to like a parking garage and just like sauce around a puck. Like that's the most training we can do. Like there's really there's nowhere really we can like as a team get together and do like, you know, stick handling stuff like that. So it's like every once in a while me and a few buddies will go like to a parking garage and just like sauce a puck and just stick handle. That's like that's the most you know, we can do here. speaker-1: I wanted to ask you kind of 'cause you come from that that Florida area too, and this is ⁓ this is central to our theme of growing the game as and in total as a part of college hockey south. But ⁓ do you think growing up in Florida, you know, you didn't have much ice? You know, the only ice you probably had is I don't know the water never froze, ⁓ the ocean never froze, but the game is significantly growing. You know, you could take the success of the Panthers and ⁓ Lightning, but also can you talk to the the ⁓ the growth of the game as you grew up because you c I feel like you kind of grew up with with the game as well in ⁓ in your state. speaker-2: Yeah, I would definitely agree with you on that. Like it definitely was not big back when I was younger, but just like I don't know what happened. I think maybe like around COVID times, like it just boomed. Like you see the lightning are in every final and then now it's the Panthers are in every final. I was lucky to experience as a kid the Florida Everblades though. I mean, they're really good. They just three peated like not too long ago. They were winning championships when I was a kid too, so That's kind of what we had down there in my area, and we're just pretty lucky I had that in my area to just go grow up and watch and just skate there too. You know, the rink the rink was only like twenty-five minutes away from my house, but it's like I know it's completely different from like north the north, like Massachusetts and Minnesota. There's a rink probably every three minutes away. But I just think it's just amazing to watch and grow up and this like It's not like it's just you growing up too, it's like the people you play with are also like going through it and then are growing games, like, you know, growing hockey wherever they end up going to college too. So I just think I was very lucky to have like that area and even though there's ⁓ there's so like so there's two rinks there. There's like there's the Hertz Arena in Estero and then there's the Fort Myers Stadium in Fort Myers. Which is kinda smaller. But I was very lucky to you know to have like both of those rinks to go to growing up 'cause there's really nothing. There's nothing outside of that. Tampa's two hours away, Orlando's three hours away, Miami's two hours away. So you can't like if we didn't have those rinks there, then I don't know what I would, you know, be doing now. So I was very lucky to have those growing up and just be a part of Yeah. I mean I grew up around the Atlanta Gladiator, so I know all about the Florida Everblades ⁓ dominance in the ECHL. I saw them beat us many, many times. But yeah, speaking to that thing of growing up in Florida and watching the kind of game kind of go around you, what would you say to, you know, a lot of kids who are in a position that you might have been in when you were a kid who are maybe considering playing hockey in general. And then even if they're going into college and they're considering playing ho college hockey, what would you say to them? I would definitely say like for a younger kid, I would definitely say go try it. You know, you can't knock until you try it. So go to your local rank. You know, nowadays there's there's so many ranks popping up everywhere you except for Talassie. But you know, there's rinks everywhere, there's public skates everywhere. Like I would just say go out, try it, and then if you like that, then you know, invest a little bit into some gear and then just take it from there. You know, if you love it, you love it. If you don't love it, you know, that's fine, it's not for you. ⁓ hockey is just a special sport, you know. You really gotta have a passion for it. And for those of kids like going into college, like in my shoes, I would just say. You know, just make it's really an important decision. Just follow your gut, you know. Like you can if you're in my position like back then, you know, deciding on whether to take gap years or college, like I think I made the right choice by just going to a small school, like a small hockey school, and just like just saying like, you know, whatever, I'm gonna go play, whatever happens, happens, like and just got very lucky and fortunate with a lot of other freshmen and we just screw program. So I would just say, you know, just follow your gut, you know. Hockey is just a very special sport to be a part of and I'm so fortunate that I was able to get into it at a young age and just grow and just meet so many phenomenal players and you know, I have my best friends for life like I played with. So I'm so glad I I did that when I was younger and had that community down there in ⁓ Four Myers Estero area. speaker-0: Love your intuition you provide and trusting your gut. A lot of players might feel that resistance not having such a viable place to play, not as many resources, but you seem to make it work and you seem like the type of guy that doesn't complain, and I'm sure your teammates don't either. Your team specifically at FSU, you guys are growing into an experienced bunch. You're gonna open your season ⁓ this coming weekend against Embry Riddle. Tell people out in c college hockey South World kind of what you're thinking we can expect from your group and what kinda you guys look like and what you're most looking forward to just this season. speaker-2: Yeah, I mean I'm gonna say we're we're good this year. We're looking really good. Like we're coming off a strong year, you know, we're looking for a little bit of revenge here from being knocked out of the playoffs last year. And I'm gonna say, you know, we're gonna be good this year. Like we have high ex very high expectations this year and winning winning everything. Like that's the mentality going in it. That's the mentality from our coaches, from you know, the talk around us. Like, there's no excuses this year, like y this is our year, like We have a handful of seniors on the team that this is their last year. So we're gonna do it for them. We're gonna do it just for our school. We're gonna hopefully bring back, you know, playoff championship, ⁓ end of season tournament, hopefully win. I mean, that's just the mindset going in. So just winning it all. speaker-1: Well, ⁓ Ryan, let me ask you maybe an NHL question. What are your thoughts on this upcoming NHL season? You have any hot takes? You have anything you wanna ⁓ y you know, ⁓ you're probably a big ⁓ NHL guy, so maybe you got something for us there. speaker-2: I'm not like the biggest NHL guy. I love the Bruins though, like 'cause my family is just from Massachusetts, so I'm a big Bruins guy. I watch all the Bruins games, but we'll see how they do this season. They're kind of coming off a rough season. But you know, after the Marshawn trade, I'm kind of, you know, a little bit of a bandwagon. Like, I don't know. I just love to see Marshawn doing good and just Marshawn being such like part of like a classy organization down there and such a good organization too that like what the main theme of this podcast about is just like growing the game, like the Panthers. Like how can you not like the Panthers like being from Florida or the Lightning just 'cause of what they do for the c hockey community down there. So I I watch a lot of Bruins games. I don't I th are they adding the eighty four games this year? Do you guys know? speaker-0: Yeah. Yep. And they're removing a couple ⁓ preseason. speaker-2: Yeah, so that'll be fun to watch. Like, you know, McDavid is gonna get like one fifty points easily, and hopefully pasta too. So like that'll be f like really exciting to watch. So I'm not the biggest NHLer, but yeah, just it's kind of bruins all the way and then now I'm gonna start watching the Panthers just 'cause of Marshawn. ⁓ you talked about your game a little bit. Do you ⁓ have any NHL player you think you you see a lot of yourself in off the top of your head? ⁓ You know, definitely when I was younger, Marshawn, ⁓ 'cause he was like such a dirty player and I tend to like when I was younger, 'cause I kind of I had a like a bigger body, like going through like, you know, the puberty ages. So like I was a big kid, so I that's kind of I played like that, even though Marshawn's like a small guy, he throws around the body. But I don't know, man. I I love Tichuck. I love his game style. I love Matthew and Brady, both of the Chichuk's playstyle. ⁓ they're they're so fun to watch just playing, especially like the four nations, like They're really fun to watch. ⁓ yeah, I guess yeah, probably I would I'd go with Matthew Tichuk there. speaker-0: Well, demands a physically demanding style, ⁓ I guess to put it in simple terms. You've gotta be willing to check every single shift on every single play. But seeing after you guys played last year and how well you did in that college hockey shot tournament, I have no doubt you guys have a bright future this year in the AC D C. Brian, thanks for coming on the podcast. It was great catching up with you and good luck this season. We look forward to watching you and the seminals play. speaker-2: Yeah, no, thank you so much for having me on. Like this is such a grateful opportunity for me to, you know, talk to you guys about Florida State and, you know, what we kinda stand for in our culture. So I appreciate that guys. So thank you. speaker-0: Massive thank you to Ryan Chambre of Florida State, their senior captain, coming on. Had some great insight, guys, really well spoken. And I thought it was so interesting his perspective of those challenges and trusting his gut to go to a place that isn't known for hockey, isn't especially well versed and has the resources as other schools. But that's nothing new if you're a college hockey south team. speaker-1: Yeah, I I think that, you know, I'm I'm in the north. I I come from the north. And so I'm so used to in my hometown we had two rinks. We had two rinks. They were five minutes away from each other. the hockey culture. We were up for Kraft Hockeyville once. And so I was just so used to the culture. I'm so used to going back and forth and everything. I really admire it because ⁓ traveling an hour away, I I mean, I'm sure you have fun in the car, but as he said, there's you know, your body is like a skate. It rusts. And if it's not out there all the time and it's not kind of on the ice, it's not feeling the water, it will it won't perform as well. And the fact that they can do that and the fact that they can win as well, it's a testament to the Florida State players and it's a testament to the resilience of that program. speaker-2: I'm I'm hoping that that Tallahassee gets a ring 'cause I mean I know that ⁓ before ⁓ U G A we have we have our new arena here in Athens, the brand new arena that they rock lobsters play out of. It was a little tough for those ⁓ U GA club teams having to drive an hour for their home games as well. So and you know, I I kind of seen how that feels. So yeah, I'm really hoping they get a new rink down there in Tallahassee. speaker-0: Yeah, and a bummer he was talking about the roller rink that closed up there. That w seemed like a bigger resource than maybe we're making it out to be. But like we said, hopefully a Fed team, a USP or ⁓ SPHL or one of the minor leagues looks at Tallahassee as the next hotbed where hockey can go in the South. So with that, we'll jump into our recap of the opening weekend for College Hockey South. A big one. We had nine games go on the slate, ten of them were planned, but One of them didn't come to fruition. Still a lot of great matchups and also get back into the swing of things. Big props and shout out to College Hockey South intern Molly Golden, who typed up the week one recap for all of those games that happened. You can read that story on college hockey south.com. It's gonna be the top article. And someone we're gonna hear from on the podcast coming up. She's very well spoken. She does a great job in broadcasting, and we're happy to have her part of the Kalach Hockey South. Internship team. First game, or guess first first series we want to get to that went down this past weekend was Florida's men's division two and Embry Riddles men's three team. Boys, the Gators pick up right where they left off. A 7-1 win on Friday night over the Ice Eagles, a raucous environment. Awesome to see that again. But Florida looks like what we all thought one of the best teams in the South. speaker-1: Yeah, and you get that with you get that with ⁓ with the Gators. You get that with playing ⁓ at a school that just is consistently ⁓ talent, consistently up there, that consistently contends, but you go to a ruckus environment like that, despite the fact that you're down, those students show up. It was it was, you know, fantastic something fantastic. speaker-2: to see. Yeah, I was really impressed by the Gators. The way they they looked really, really good. I'm definitely interested to see if how ⁓ how they do the rest of the year. But yeah, so far so good for them. I mean, especially that fifth goal, really great. Two on one execution. I'm I'm really looking forward to seeing them the rest of the year. speaker-0: Yeah, some of their top guys were very involved. Micah McCoy had two on game one, along with five other skaters that scored one. Liam Neckoshwag started that deal, and this was a physical series. It didn't look like it on the score sheet with the seven one and six two Florida sweep. But Embry Riddle brought the smoke and those guys play a very demanding style. They didn't back down, they didn't bat an eye and Like we mentioned, that crowd was there from the very start to the bitter end, even when it was completely out of reach for the Ice Eagles. And they're gonna play Florida State coming up, which we talked about with Ryan Chambre. They're gonna open their season out there in Daytona Ice Arena. Hopefully they get a repeat environment there and the Ice Eagles can have a better start to their season. speaker-1: And I'll I'll say one thing about kind of having that environment and how it helps you to show out to players who are potentially, you know, want to play the game at a, you know, it it's not like a ⁓ a powerhouse top school, it's not of Florida, it's not of Georgia, but they need to recruit still. And if you have an environment that will stay to an ending that is out of reach, then that shows that you have a fan base that is Devoted. A devoted fan base can go a long way. A lot of players, you know, in higher up leagues in the NHL, they want to play for teams with a historic tradition and historic fan base. If they can continue to make a name for themselves as ⁓ a fan base that makes a lot of noise that will stick it to the end, players are gonna want to play there. speaker-0: People that are well versed also around that program know they've been doing this for years and it's fun to see them pack that little barn on the top level of the mezzanine section and make life tough for the opponents. We had a series to talk about with South Carolina and UNC Charlotte, the reigning men's three national champions. Unfortunately, we had our first, I guess you'll call it, cancellation from a Zamboni breaking down out there ⁓ in Lexington. Very unfortunate situation there. Both teams arrived to the rink, and I was told that they found out when they got there that the ice was not going to be available because of the Zamboni breaking. So weird situation, but South Carolina gets to open their season against Vanderbilt on Saturday. They're not gonna get their chance to avenge the tie to UNC Charlotte. Their only game last year, as Danny mentioned last week, that was not a win. We're not called a loss because they went undefeated. But South Carolina and Kakaki Division III looking to get things started this coming week. Middle Tennessee took on UNC Wilmington, the Seahawks. And the Blue Raiders got their first taste of ACHA action again, boys. Not the weekend they were looking for. A close game two, but UNC Wilmington had a late goal in the closing minutes of Game 2. Take the series. The Blue Raiders, the reigning conference champions in men's two, and this is still. in my mind one of the favorites to do very well in men's three this year. So close games in Tennessee, but or at least a close game two in Tennessee, but one series that was as lopsided as I think I've seen in four or five years of watching college club hockey. Clemson versus Tennessee in Women's Two. This was the first ever games for Clemson's program, part of College Hockey South and in general in the ACHA. And they make a I'm gonna c I you well you'll call this a statement, but this is just a resounding bang the door down and blow it up. Clemson wins all three games, thirteen to nothing, fifteen to one, and nine to zero. They outscore the Tennessee Lady Icefuls thirty-seven to one for their first ever sweep. Those numbers just speak to themselves. speaker-1: We should also mention that Bela Quick with ⁓ two out of three shutouts. You know, there's another player, ⁓ goaltender with the last name Quick. ⁓ and I can't quite think of him right now. He plays in the NHL, but and he's gonna be a future Hall of Famer. Looking very similar to the ⁓ former Los Angeles Kings two time Stanley Cup champion, current New York Ranger, Jonathan Quick. You could kinda I I I like to maybe just a distant relevant five cousins down the road is basically how she was playing. speaker-2: ⁓ yeah, totally. And one I'm I was super impressed with Clemson, especially just breaking into club hockey in general. I believe it's their first first season, first games. It came right out of the gate. I couldn't think of a better way to start to start your program than ⁓ coming out and and ⁓ laying down the hammer on Tennessee. But yeah, super excited to see what they do after that. I mean, if this is any any end the indication of how they're gonna be this year, I I can't wait. speaker-0: You know, I half expected Tennessee to kind of wallow in this and feel like, man, like this was really not their night. But, you know, credit to them and their social team because all weekend long they were posting and promoting how cool it was to bring Clemson in, how great it was to start their season. Nobody within that program and on social media is batting their heads. Yeah, the score is what it is, but it's just great to see the growth still of the women's programs. We talked to Savannah Prefontaine about Bringing in new programs like Clemson and three others. And regardless of the outcome, it's still good to see both of these teams in action. It's a very early start in the year. ⁓ I just feel for the Iceful's goaltender here, like this is a tough day. ⁓ and I really hope they have ⁓ closer results as we start the season. Credit to Clemson. They played one heck of a series here, winning all three games, and I'll add you on back to backs. Saturday morning and afternoon. Leading into our three stars of the week, first star goes to Nina Molina on Clemson's women's two team. She had, get ready for this, nine goals, twelve assists, and twenty one points in these three games. Just mind blowing stuff here. You're you're averaging a hat trick per game and more than that in apples to go with it. Followed up by who you aforementioned, like Jonathan Quick, Noah Bland, two shutouts for Bella Quick. Only allowed one goal on the weekend. She starts three and ⁓ on the season. And our third star of the week goes to Captain Noah Horowitz on Florida's M2 team. Had a goal and three assists to cap off the sweep over the Embry Riddle Ice Eagles. speaker-1: I'll say one thing about ⁓ Nina Molina. Nina Molina, by the way, ⁓ if I'm doing my math correctly, granted I'm not on a math major, but twenty one points in three games, averaging a touchdown in points per game. It's ⁓ I I know that ⁓ Clemson is known for their football team. Nina might be able to contribute. I think speaker-0: Danny Baum's gonna have something to say about that. We we're gonna have to have one of you two on at the same time. Cause you sound like a Clemson guy here, but we know you're from Maryland. Definitely known I'm speaker-1: I'm not I'm just a college football lover. speaker-0: No, before we talk about some of our games coming up, we'd like to bring in a special guest in a new segment here on College Hockey South. We're gonna have our games of the week breakdown and some games to watch from my very own Petey Buantempo. Petey, take it away. speaker-2: Alright, and switching gears just for a little bit, we're gonna get shortly into our segment of the co games of the week as well as a couple of other notable games to watch, which we'll touch on a little bit later. But first we'll kick off with the co-games of the week starting this Friday on September twelfth. And let me tell you what, we've got two matchups that really bring some unique storylines, some early season intrigue, and just a little bit of history making. First up in the men's three division, with puck drop at seven PM Eastern, it's Austin P State University traveling to eastern Kentucky. Now Austin P is still a very young program with only a couple of seasons under their belt, but they've already made a huge splash. Their first ever win in program history actually came against this very same Easter Kentucky team, claiming a 6'2 victory last year. So there's always a little bit of that revenge factor and a little bit of that confidence building there for the Govs. Eastern Kentucky, of course, however, has been around the block. They're that steady D three presence in college hockey south, used to playing at home and handling the pressure of conference matchups. What makes this one so interesting is the clash of styles. Austin P, I would expect, is to be that young, energetic, and scrappy team trying to establish their identity in a really tough division, while Eastern Kentucky is experienced, structured, and the kind of team that knows how to grind out results over sixty minutes. It's truly mind over matter and new kid versus old established program with bragging rates always on the line and the best kind of measuring stick. And now later that night at Eastern ten fifteen PM Eastern, we shift down to Florida for something truly special with St. Leo University and Jacksonville University facing off in their college hockey south debuts. Congratulations to both of these programs, first of all. And St. Leo's For those who do not know, was founded in twenty twenty two and Jacksonville just officially joining this season. So this is quite literally the first time both programs are stepping onto the college hockey south stage and both surely do not want to disappoint. You've always got that first impression energy with both teams vying to be hungry to prove that they belong, and you can bet that both teams won't want to give an inch early. What I love more about this matchup is the storylines you can already feel brewing. A regional rivalry form right out of the gate, Florida hockey fans finally getting some new blood in college hockey south, especially in the Sunshine State, and both programs setting the tone early f for their very first seasons. And for St. Leo, it's about showcasing how quickly they've grown. For Jacksonville, it's about hitting the ground running and making a statement in a new league. It's exactly the kind of late night game that's exciting for fans and potentially a real gem to watch live. So there you have it. And just a reminder, we have Austin P State University at Eastern Kentucky University at 7 p.m. and then St. Leo at Jacksonville at 1015 p.m. Two very different matchups. One a rematch with some history already built in, and one a completely fresh chapter, but both promising fast-paced and meaningful hockey to kick off the week. And just s switching gears just for a little bit, we're gonna dive into some other games to watch this week. And first up, we're this weekend showcases Middle Tennessee State University at Clemson. Middle MTSU has been on the rise over the past few seasons and returning key veterans like Lyndon Palmer and Donovan Yesnatch. They're looking to keep that momentum going, but Clemson is always tough at home and benefiting from the growth of Southern hockey, especially within their region. Expect a competitive opener that could set the tone for both teams. Also on Thursday, on the women's side, Liberty travels to Tampa. Liberty's Women Program has a storied history, seven national titles at the Division I level, but this is their D2 squad. But still, it's a huge challenge for Tampa, who will be looking to prove they can belong against one of the region's elite programs, and not to mention one of the nation's elite women's programs. And then we roll into the weekend. We have Friday and Saturday, September 13th and 14th with Vanderbilt at South Carolina. Vanderbilt is coming off their best season ever, highlighted by first ever nationals win over Liberty, and they're eager to show that they compete at the top of CHS. USC meanwhile is celebrating its 100th season of hockey, so Home Ice Pride will be strong and this series has added some historical weight. So whether it's MTSU and Clemson kicking things off, Liberty Women's testing Tampa, or Vanderbilt and USC clashing to close the weekend, there's plenty of Kalach hockey to watch and storylines to follow at Kalachocke South. speaker-0: Thanks so much, Petey. Looking forward to hearing more of you on College Hockey Mouth as we get into the start of the regular season in the first couple of weeks. First game we're going to talk about is Austin P taking on Eastern Kentucky Friday at 7 p.m. from the Lexington Ice Center. Both teams last year struggled a little bit in the regular season, but this is a game that's going to be live streamed on Eastern Kentucky's X page at EKU Hockey. Austin P revealed some great new sweaters this year. Eastern Kentucky has some redemption to go for this year. Should be interesting between two what seems on paper similarly matched teams. speaker-2: I was lucky enough to see Austin P once last year they came and played ⁓ the Ice Dogs. I was lucky enough to get to see them, yeah. And they struggled a little bit last season, but I'm really h looking to see if they if they can turn the page next season or they don't have to play the Ice Dogs anymore. So Ice Dogs move up, so I'm looking forward to seeing them in action. speaker-1: Yeah, and on top of that, this week, Saint Leo at Jacksonville. That'll be a ten PM Eastern start time. So a late game. It's the first game in Dolphins club history. What are your thoughts on this one? speaker-0: Very fun to look at. I just talked about the unknowns. I think Jacksonville's got good leadership with a former ECHL player and Derek Lodermeyer. He built a good staff that we think is going to be able to develop this program over time. They're going to start in the ACDC. This is an ACDC matchup, which means if you haven't tuned in with us in previous episodes, this is the American Collegiate Development Conference, sort of a conference for teams that are still getting their feet under themselves. The ACHA, the league assists them on some degree with the scheduling and getting their program funds and structure going. But in essence, this on paper looks like a great matchup because these teams don't have a lot of history. St. Leo started only a couple of years ago and it's their first year in college hockey south. Although it's a late start time, and if you're gonna see it, make sure you get out to community first angle at a good time. We're gonna find out about what these programs have and Regardless, it's gonna be a lot to celebrate for both sides, considering this is hopefully the beginning of something great for those two for years to come now as club programs. Those are our games of the week. So a special edition, two of their you've got Austin P, Eastern Kentucky, and then St. Leo and Jacksonville. Some games to watch out for this weekend, and this is gonna be actually a pretty deep field. Middle Tennessee looking to get their season going. Getting the win column against a Clemson team that did very well last year, especially in the tournament. The conference tournament, that is. This one's also late. Friday, 10 p.m. Eastern at the pavilion in Taylors, South Carolina. Hopefully the Blue Raiders get off to the right foot, and we'll see what this Clemson team looks like now in men's three as well. Embury Riddle, ACDC versus Florida State, ACDC. Friday, 7 p.m. Eastern from the Daytona Ice Arena boys. We talked to Ryan Chambre just briefly about that at the end. His team begins Kalachaki South play. Embry Riddle played a physical style against Florida. I think this is gonna turn out to be a solid series. speaker-1: I love the concept of the AC DC as a whole because we talked about, you know, the main foc one of the biggest focuses with CHS is growing the game. The AC DC is the perfect breeding ground for that. So you have teams that are big names in terms of collegiate sports like Florida State, but ⁓ you also have the teams like we talked about Jacksonville, right? So there are a lot, there's a lot of fluctuation within the AC DC. And this is just one of those instances. Where you have a school that isn't really well known, playing Florida State, the ⁓ the giant ⁓ ACC, ⁓ I'm talking about in the NCAA powerhouse. I I just love kind of the merging of the the concepts that. speaker-0: Third of our games to watch, Florida Atlantic starts their season against Miami. Now, both men's division three teams. If you remember though, this Miami team won the national championship in men's three in 2024. They moved up a division. Now they technically go back down, but it's an ACHA, so a different story. Regardless, this is a second year Florida Atlantic program versus a recently national champion Miami program. Two teams that we could be talking about going down the stretch making contention for this conference title. speaker-1: And Brendan Moore is certainly gonna have something to say about that, taking a bigger role in a Miami group that, as you talked about, already won a national championship. So he you know, it's only it's only hid his growth over the off season, something that I'm eager to see. speaker-0: They will head to Kendall Ice Arena for the game on Saturday. Final game to watch, Tampa and Liberty Woman's two. Now, Tampa, of course, very prominent team in this women's division. They are going up against a Liberty team that's repeatedly gone to Nationals in St. Louis. So this is a good test for us to find out where Tampa is. That's Friday at 7 15 PM Eastern at Clearwater Ice Arena. Also make the disclaimer: it is still week one and two. So even though I use the terminology, we'll see where we're at. Nobody knows for sure. And these teams are gonna evolve. But this is a fun matchup on paper, considering that Tampa, we believe, has aspirations to be one of those teams at Nationals eventually. speaker-1: Yeah, and Tampa, by the way, is gonna be with us at the Columbus Classic. They will take on Alabama. That'll be a rematch of the CHS women's division championship. So be sure to tune in. I'll be on the call for that game. speaker-2: I was there, I got to watch that that Tampa versus Alabama game in that CHS ⁓ women's championship and that was that was just a great game. So I'm really looking forward to that for sure and see what ⁓ Tampa can do on the new year. speaker-0: And next week's episode, we'll have a lot of talk about the Columbus Classic Boys, so we'll want to stay tuned for that. Also, notable dimension, South Carolina will play this Liberty team as well the following day on Saturday. A great slate of games, guys. This is really when we get to see a lot of the juice come out in these teams. I am really looking forward to hearing about what goes on with St. Leo and Jacksonville. But all these games are gonna have interest around them. Be sure to follow College Hockey South's social pages. Instagram X website at collegehockey south.com and give each of these teams a follow on social media wherever you find them on Instagram, TikTok, X as we mentioned. So that'll just about do it for this episode, boys. Sitting down with Ryan Chambre. Thanks for coming on, Aaron and Noah. We look forward to hearing you guys on here again. I guess to wrap things up, do you guys have any final thoughts? speaker-2: Yeah, looking forward to the rest of this season of getting to see all these teams in action. I'm really excited to see, you know, the much bigger group of teams this year and I'm just really looking forward to it. So yeah. speaker-0: Boy, we're gonna have Noah give us his final thoughts, but Noah came to us in his echo chamber studio and it seems like that environment dried him out. Noah, are you are you okay? D do we need the e bugs? speaker-1: Maybe. So Columbus Classic coming up. Get really excited. I'll be on the call. Hopefully I don't have another nosebleed. But we are really excited for that. We got eight teams playing. Everybody get juiced up. This is gonna be a tournament that's gonna feature some fantastic teams. Nobody knows who's who's gonna be in the mix so far, and a lot of teams are playing their first game in Columbus, so you're not gonna wanna miss that. But I'm gonna attend to my nose as soon as we end this broadcast. But ⁓ you know, it's part it's life. Being being in hockey, you ⁓ you get punts in the face, you get right back up, you know, you bleed some, but you stay strong. speaker-0: This is a great MO to lead us into the week. Tough grittiness, fighting for the love of the game. Noah Bland, great job as always, and look forward to hearing from you more this year. Aaron as well. For our producer, Gavin, my name is Devin Sarah. Thank you for listening to episode four of College Hockey Mouth, a College Hockey South podcast. We'll see you next week.