Latest / College Hockey Mouth / Episode 17: Bella Buontempo | USF Women's Hockey/Seattle Torrent

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Episode 17: Bella Buontempo | USF Women's Hockey/Seattle Torrent · College Hockey Mouth

• speaker-0: Welcome everybody to another edition of College Hockey Mouth episode 17. In the studio, Devin Sarah joined alongside Danny Bohm. And Danny, before I ask you about your weekend, we've got some introductions to make in this 17th recording, but I'll start us off this time out of order. Good weekend. Relaxed. Got to see some old friends from the Mitten State unexpectedly. And overall enjoyed watching the Red Wings beat your Blackhawks. For nothing shutout. Always good to see that. But How are you doing, Danny? speaker-1: A little worse now that you mentioned that. Thanks a lot. ⁓ yeah, so I mentioned last week I kinda complained about running in the cold. But this past weekend, my God, I went from Saturday being uncomfortably hot in a quarter zip. It was like seventy degrees out, legitimately seventy in Atlanta, to yesterday I I ran last night and the wind chill was nine degrees. Of like less than twenty-four hours a little bit over twenty-four hours apart. There was a sixty degree drop. But I mean I I I personally love the cold weather. So I I I'm weird. All right. I I've run in the cold and I like it. ⁓ but yeah, ⁓ I was uncomfortably cold in ⁓ Q Zip one day and then the next day my hands went numb a quarter of a mile in. But ⁓ I d I did watch some college football, Gavin. That's your favorite part of the podcast. Army Navy. You're not American unless you watch the Army Navy game. ⁓ and they they played the ⁓ the Army Navy hockey games with the men's and women's team, which was cool. I saw that. ⁓ this was like the first Saturday that wasn't like a that wasn't like chock full of college football games, so my life is super empty now. So yeah, I'm gonna have to like find stuff to do outside of the house, which is terrible. Who does stuff outside of the house on a college football Saturday? ⁓ yeah, so that sucks. One thing we were supposed to do on this episode, Devin, at least according to plan, we were gonna have our our guest on. Who is a proud member of the CHS team, technically still, I I guess. No, she is. She is. And her brother is also a part of the team. And my idea was that we were going to surprise her and he was going to be a guest host, but he would join in the middle of the episode. He is already in the studio. So we did not get that reaction on our recording. But our third host of the episode, Pietro Ricardo, Alfonso Bontempo. How you doing, Pete? How was your weekend? Not speaker-2: Too bad. Not too bad at all, Danny. Pretty fired up to get in here. I guess maybe a little bit of a false start kind of coming in here. But really excited a little bit of a false start. Minus five. But I'm really excited to do this episode. Kind of been looking forward to doing it for a little bit. Really proud of Bella, kind of all she's accomplished. And I'm kind of excited to talk to about her, about her job and just kind of everything. Cause it's been awesome just to kind of see her go from like this little girl in high school that kind of just speaker-1: Minus five yards, buddy. speaker-2: got into hockey just because of the devils and then just to kind of where she is now. So it's been an awesome process like like for all these years. And and I also am gonna kind of expose her a little bit because there's some really funny stories that I kinda wanna get into. speaker-1: Absolutely. That's what I was looking forward to the most. speaker-0: Well, you you know, there is no introduction needed considering it's in the title, but Petey lays it out, and I'm gonna lay it out as well because she deserves a good one. This is the co-founder of the USF Women's Hockey Program, also a co-founder of the Women's Division of College Hockey South, and most recently was named part of the Hockey Hockey Operations Coordinator with the PWHL Seattle Torrent. Please welcome Bella Bontempo. speaker-3: ⁓ that was a really good introduction. speaker-0: Thank you. speaker-1: For a bit, yeah. speaker-0: You know, I I I would say now we've had the pinnacle of women's hockey around college hockey south, and I think we can't complete the start of the podcast without having you on because you're on that Mount Rushmore per se. But for the viewers that don't know you maybe, tell us about your journey growing up in hockey and to where you got to are now. Okay. speaker-3: Yeah, that's kind of a long story. But like Petey said, we've kinda just always been a hockey family. Grew up watching the Devils. Pete started playing well before me. my eighth grade year was when my high school started a women's team and they were kinda just looking for anybody to play and they knew our family, so they were like, Hey, if you wanna put on some skates and come and play with us, we'd love to have you. So then I got to high school, started playing, kinda started to like work my ass off at it just because I loved it so much. We became technically like ⁓ an original six team for the women's teams in Jersey, which was really, really cool. And then I guess like my senior year, COVID hit, and they were kind of just looking for somebody to lead the team in a way off the ice that like coaches weren't really allowed to do. So that's kind of where I stepped into like a leadership role that I really, really liked. ⁓ and then When it was time to go and find like a college, I knew I wanted to keep playing. Kinda wanted to go down south and just on a whim was like, I can just make a team. That's that's fine, that's normal. And I had no idea if they if anybody skated, had no idea if they even had ice down there. So posted on a Facebook page and I was like, if I started a team, like would anybody wanna play? ⁓ and I got a lot of people that were like, Yes, I'd love to. Like I've never played before, but that sounds really cool. And so I went down there and kind of just went up to a random office at USF and was like, How do I how do I start a team? And they were super not helpful because they didn't really understand like what I was trying to do. ⁓ but eventually did get it like technically it took me like two full years at USF to lay the foundation of the team and like try and find ice time when like There were people that were like, Women don't play hockey in the South, so we're not even gonna like entertain giving you any ice time. So it was kind of like a struggle in every single way. ⁓ couldn't find anybody to coach us, and then eventually randomly found someone at a public skate that was like, I love women's hockey. I would love to help you guys. And he was a big help. so then eventually once we got like got really solidified, Kyle was he messaged me and was like Would you want to start a women's division? I was like, well, I've already done this, so I might as well like let's do it. ⁓ and then that's when like Abby from Auburn and I really started talking, and Justina from Miami, Haley from Georgia. So it was like so from there it just everything kind of blew up, I guess, in like the best way possible. And then my senior year, I ⁓ was like, wow, I I don't wanna quit doing this. I really, really love running my team and all of my teammates were like, This you should be doing this. So it wasn't until I graduated that I really decided like I'll take a shot in the dark and apply for for some jobs and then applied for this one like a month later and and got it, which was crazy. speaker-1: You covered just about every single question we ha we have on here, just a little bit. speaker-3: Sorry. speaker-1: No, you no, you're good. But yeah, you touched on it a little bit. You kind of have a history of coming in on the ground floor of of hockey teams. You helped start your your hockey team at at your high school, your freshman year. What was that process like? speaker-3: It's been difficult every single time, but honestly, like I can't imagine doing it any other way. Like I it's it just creates such an amazing culture and community when you know that everything you're doing is the first first time that something like this is being done. Like when we were doing it in high school we had thirteen girls and we were practicing on a quarter sheet of ice, which was a mess, but it was really cool knowing that like We had to get through this, we had to really show everybody that we're here to stay. And then eventually, you know, we my by my senior year we had sixty girls and we had a varsity J V team. We had two practices. Like it became of like a real, really, really respected program. So I kind of took that and knew that it was gonna be really hard. And I took that with me to USF and that's kind of what kept me going through those first two years when I was when we like did not have a program and I didn't think that anything was gonna actually come about. I just went back to high school and knew that it was gonna be difficult. And I remember my I think it was our junior year when we had our first we were at Columbus Classic for the first year. And I remember all of our freshmen. I think we had like seven freshmen at USF and they were like, This is they were so surprised that this was the first year that we were doing this. And I remember something clicked in them that day when I was like, You guys are it, this is the inaugural team, like like we need to we need to hit the ground running and they were like, We're gonna make you so proud. We need to make ourselves proud. Like we are we're laying this foundation. We need to show everybody like what we want to make of this program. So it was like like not only am I so proud of it, but like everybody else becomes just as proud, which is like something you just wouldn't get if you're just joining a team, I think. speaker-0: You know, I I just see Petey over there in the corner also gleaming with the pride. ⁓ you know, bringing him into the conversation as you both and siblings in hockey enjoying this, you know, how much of that foundation was laid when you guys were kids, when you guys were teenagers, just trying to find your place in the world and ultimately learn those leadership skills and find out where you want to be ⁓ when you get older and where you're at now. speaker-3: Yeah, well, like I said, Petey started playing hockey well before me, so it was kinda cause of him that I was growing up in a rank. I was always at his practices. We were on we were playing street hockey together and he's hit me with countless pucks and I've gotten so many black eyes from it. So he was really the reason that like I fell in love with the sport and we were ⁓ we still went to devil's games and every single time I was I would be talking to him about practices, like he would get just as fired up as as me about this. So that was really, really awesome having someone to kind of share that with. speaker-1: In your lifetime it's it's gotta be tough to still love the sport going to all those devils games 'cause they've not been good. Not been good. You know what? One thing that got ruined also, Devin, something I wanted to ask both Petey and Bella leading up to the podcast was what would you be willing to give off the Devils roster to get Quinn Hughes? And since that's happened, Quinn Hughes got traded to Minnesota. I guess just ball that question up and throw it away. speaker-3: Could still happen. speaker-2: Whatever they offered was definitely not enough and they were never gonna match Minnesota's ⁓ deal was the issue. And no, and the worst part is like you're gonna get me fired up about this. Like to say 'cause I call because immediately after the Quinn Hughes trade broke, Annabella was the first person I called and she was and I called her like immediately as it happened, like probably a minute. speaker-1: Ugly nah speaker-2: And and like the first thought that went to my head, I called Bella and the fact that the Devils had a chance to draft Marco Rossi and they drafted Alexander Holtz, and then they also had a chance to draft Z Buyam and they drafted Anton Salayev. And so I'm like, if they had those two guys, like theoretically you have that entire package right there. That that honestly crushed me. But we'll get ⁓ in a couple of years in free agency. Next week. speaker-3: He did call me in tears. He was curious. speaker-2: I was crying. I was crying. It was more like Manly Tears, but you know, like ⁓ yeah. Manly Tears. That we didn't get Quinn Hughes, but he'll be back soon. Don't worry. Yeah, the Red Brothers. speaker-1: Okay, all speaker-0: As a w Red Wings fan, I can totally relate to the feeling of missing out on that. I still think you got a great team over there in New Jersey. And I know Devils fans really think that you can win the cup with that team. I think if Jack Hughes is healthy, you can. But you know, steering the conversation back to more you two and and PD, just you know, how much have you seen out of Bella grow as a person? Obviously a lot of leadership roles in what she's had, but what does that look like through your lens seeing Bella succeed like this? speaker-2: I'm I honestly every single day ⁓ I get more proud of her and it's just awesome to kind of see like the like like not even just kind of the player because honestly on the ice just watching her like it's night and day from the first game I saw her. I remember Bella. This is actually gonna be like one of my questions for you. Do you remember the first game? It was I think it was your first high school game ever against Randolph. Do you remember that game? Yeah where you had a she Bella Yeah, you yeah, if you want to tell everybody what happened at your first high school game. This the first time I ever saw her play. speaker-3: I I believe I had a Gordy Howe hat trick that game. If I remember correctly. speaker-2: Yes, exactly. I remember that. I remember you c she got she scored a goal and got an assist again it was against Randolph. And then and then like probably five minutes left in the game, Annabelle and this girl started throwing like like punches, like legit punches at each other. speaker-3: Loved at sunrise. This was like women's JV hockey, like first year in New Jersey, like not good hockey at all. And I like I grew up watching Petey and Petey was kind of, you know, an enforcer. So I turned around and this girl was like slashing me or something and I told her to stop and I think she said, What are you gonna do about it? And then I just speaker-1: Bad decision. Bad decision. speaker-0: That's how it always starts. speaker-2: That to like to watch you go from like that to like legit college hockey that you were also the captain of was just like completely night and day. Cause I remember then we went to the ⁓ the stick time at Bridgewater when you were still home and I was like, When did you actually like get good? Like you were just like legit good on the ice. I was like, Okay. I 'cause I hadn't seen you play in a while. The only time I had seen you play 'cause I just watched like videos of you like the streams when you were at US F but other than that, and then I couldn't really make a lot of your ice school games because that was when I was in college. And then I was like, Okay Annabelle is like good now. I was like, okay. But just like aside from just like you developing as a player, like as a person, like I I don't think I would have ever been able to kind of do what you did in terms of just starting your entire team, ⁓ and just really pursuing what your passion was, ⁓ and it where it's kinda led to now. So I'm like I'm always really proud of you. It's also you're welcome. speaker-3: How start a little bit? speaker-0: That is I love the I love the transparency. That's smoking like a true sibling. I didn't realize you got good. There's a little bit of that backhand and compliment there, right? And then there's speaker-2: Crazy. I mean, she saw me play on some really bad teams. Like she saw me in Bannams, my t my Bannham team that she came to every single game for. We finished ⁓ 024 and 2 in our like my first Bannum year. And like that was like middle school. And then she went and then all the way from like my last 18U like ATU team when we were like one of the best teams in the state. So Bella kinda saw like everything happen and she came to every single game. And so she always supported me. speaker-3: You know, speaker-2: ⁓ even through like and she came to every single high school game too. And so like I think it's only hopefully it's fitting that I could at least make as as ma make as many games as I possibly could for her because, you know, she was always there to support me, which I always really appreciated from her. speaker-3: Love of the game. I do remember that Owen twenty four season though. Those were some brutal games. speaker-1: So I I I'm wondering, what went into your decision to go to USF? You said you like warm weather, but I'm sure you were looking at more schools in the south, right? speaker-3: So yeah, I was so like I said, it was during COVID. Petey was in Philly and for like the majority of his college career, it was online, couldn't really go out, couldn't really do anything, no in person classes. So my parents were like, We don't wanna send you to a school like up north, like we'd rather send you down south, where honestly like their rules were a little bit more chill during that time. And then so I went in with ⁓ a criminology major and USF had the best crime program. It was a really, really great Krim program. So that was kind of a no-brainer when I got in there. ⁓ and then it also, they also offered Italian, which I minored in. So that was kind of just an added bonus. speaker-1: Funny enough, actually, I think we've had this conversation before because you went to Italy. You've been to Italy okay. I had my I had microwave spaghetti for for lunch for lunch today. Healthy choice meal. It was it was two hundred and ninety calories. Yes, it it was a travesty, like it is what it is. Sometimes you just need something in the belly. I know Petey's making faces too. speaker-3: That's a travesty. speaker-2: Yeah, No comment. speaker-3: Saying that to the wrong people. speaker-1: No, I get it. Look. speaker-0: You know what? The Sicilian in me is also disappointed. But I'll say this. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Maybe he's bowing out of budget. I've been there. I I've had spaghetti ⁓ microwave too. ⁓ I've never been there. Hey, yeah, like I said, I mean I haven't had the most money at times, you know. College student before, like you had to do what you had to do to survive. You know? I mean, tell us about that. So, you know, we talk a lot of people about the international scene. Like, have you ever had those aspirations to go see hockey internationally? Obviously now you're speaker-3: Never, never speaker-0: with the Seattle Torrents are very occupied, but like has that ever like crossed your mind a bit? speaker-3: Yeah, for sure. ⁓ so I was a double major. ⁓ majored in international relations too because I love going abroad. I studied abroad twice. I went to London and then the following year, studied abroad in Italy. And the year before London, I was in Spain for four weeks, I think. So it's like I I love going abroad and I've definitely thought about doing hockey over there. One of our coaches, he coached in Germany and he coached in Italy and hearing everything that that he was doing over there was definitely, definitely something that I would be interested in in the future. speaker-0: Dan doesn't have a Italian follow up? Okay, well then I'll keep it rolling here. speaker-1: I I I c I can follow up. speaker-0: Well and you know, we got this whole international tour thing coming up, no big deal. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean we're going to France. The Italian hockey scene. But we that did come up recently in our group chat because ⁓ we saw I saw something on Twitter. It was Poland just absolutely pumping the Italian national team. And I was like, Petey, you need you need to lace ⁓ up. Poland was just giving it to him and and Italy's gonna be playing those NHL players because because they're a host nation, they're gonna have to play ⁓ speaker-2: That was so funny. The Ducks had the one ⁓ Italian born drafted goalie, like second round or s yeah, second or third round like a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure like that's the only Italian presence that the NHL's gonna have for a team Italy in the Olympics. speaker-1: I think they might have to play more than one goalie at a time for them to have a chance. It's not gonna be good for them. speaker-2: No, they're gonna get they're gonna get destroyed. But I mean like I also kinda like I feel like a lot of these countries now like just have like like you look at like all these countries in the Olympics now, they have at least one player on like on like even like some of these really small countries, like even like Latvia has like some really good draft eligible guys that are coming in. It's crazy to see kind of like where hockey's going. I was just like looking at all those rosters and I'm like, whoa. Like Yeah. It looks t it I'm very scared about that rink. I like a little ⁓ speaker-0: They better get that rank done though. speaker-2: It looked a little small to me. That's all I'll say. And I'm gonna ⁓ speaker-0: I just think it's a bad look. I know, that's what I'm thinking. Like they're gonna play games. speaker-2: The first women's game is I think like February fifth and then the rink is supposed to get done February second or something like that. Pretty sure Annabella said that. ⁓ I was like, okay. I don't know. I'm just worried about the ice, honestly, more than anything. But like they'll f like all those athletes are, you know, world class, like they'll be able to figure it out. It just might look a little sloppy first couple of games. speaker-1: That's not a time crunch at all. speaker-3: Not gonna be great. speaker-0: No, Yeah, tough look for the motherland, you know. Yeah. ⁓ speaker-1: So what were the similarities in ⁓ building a team at USF and s the differences as well from USF to your high school? Two completely diff much larger entity at USF and like what kind of support you got from your high school versus USF? You spoke on it a little bit, but you can expand here if you'd like to. speaker-3: ⁓ night and day. It was definitely the same concept, but not the same thing at all. Like obviously the high school program, like you had the support from the high school, you had ranks in the area. ⁓ the hockey community, like the biggest issue was the fact that no girls at the time were playing because there was just nothing really set up. But like like I said, like girls just started to pick it up, like you got We had a bunch of girls transferring from like private schools to go public after we started one. And so it grew really, really quickly. Whereas like when I went to USF, it was like me telling this giant school, like, I want to start a club hockey team. And they were like, We we don't care. Like you you can try. And then ICE, like, I mean, the whole thing is like Florida didn't have huge hockey programs and like just the women's teams. Like there was maybe like on around. So there was definitely like an interest, but it was significantly harder just 'cause like every time I went to go do something, like there were different rules that like I had to follow through USF or there was one of our biggest issues was USF wouldn't they wouldn't approve us as a club until we had ten girls and we had played or I think it was like played like five games and like had ten practices or something like that. But we couldn't do that because we had no funding. So it was like it it was I was like we I can't show you we can do anything because you won't you won't give us the money for it and they wouldn't give it to us because we couldn't do anything. So it was definitely really, really difficult. speaker-1: Was that a standard across like all USF ⁓ club teams or was that just like an arbitrary number that they came up with? speaker-3: So the standard was that everybody had to have a probation period and that probation period was just showing that they that there was like a club to sustain and there was a club to fund. But the issue is like all of these other clubs were just like field sports or it was running. So it was really easy to find people that and like find places to practice. So it was just so much harder for us. And it was also them not understanding. Like I came back and Because there were so few sheets of ice in Florida, I think we I think we were paying like close to five hundred dollars per hour on on ice and I came back to the school with this and I think they thought I was lying. I they just didn't understand how much it was. So it was teaching like the school what hockey was and how much it actually took to sustain and like everything about it on top of like finding these different places that would host us and finding these players that would actually want to play us. speaker-0: I think it's also a point of making it like the non-knowledge, I guess the lack of knowledge, ⁓ for lack of better words, is the apparent thing in Florida. So for you to go and not only pitch the idea but then get them on board makes the world of a difference. And since then your guys program have had like all of the accolades, the Gasparilla tournaments, playing at ⁓ what was Amelie Arena, benchmark arena now. I know that rubs Gavin the wrong way. You guys have had some clean uniforms in that time. Where did you guys get the inspiration for those? And did that help when you guys pitch it all to the school? speaker-3: So I I actually designed all of our jerseys. That was like when I was first making it, I was I was like, I wanna have really, really cool jerseys 'cause I had seen like like some of the other ones that some club teams were doing and I think it just kills like like a franchise. I think like when you have things that people are like, ⁓ that's not that's not Yeah. So I was like at least like if we can't have great practices, if we're not gonna have great games, at least people are gonna be like, wow, they have really cool jerseys, what is that? So I took a lot of inspiration from Berbero helped out a lot. They I have to give them so much credit. Like I came to them with like different ideas and like things that I knew I wanted on the jerseys and they were able to like whip up different sketches and kind of it was very, very collaborative and they were really, really helpful. Rebirth also helped with some of our designs. Our last year Gasparilla jerseys were hands down my favorite. They were our slime green and black ones. Those were Those were really, really cool. And I knew that I wanted slime green and I I was like I was working with Berbero and I was like at this point like I was like I don't really know what I want, but I was like I know I want this color scheme. speaker-1: It looks like ⁓ the the stars alternate uniform that are like neon green and and so you call it slime green. speaker-3: Yeah, it's it's that's like US F slime green. speaker-2: Like a Nickelodeon. speaker-1: ⁓ is that a thing? speaker-3: It's a thing. speaker-2: What was the biggest challenge for you? I would assume Ice Time, but 'cause I know that you said that was always pretty speaker-3: Yeah, it was it was the money, honestly. Like it just I think our whole season last year, I wanna say it was like forty grand or something like that, just with like travel, ice time and everything. So it was hard pitching that number to the school. And the school only my sophomore year they gave us seventeen grand. And then the year after that they gave us eight, I think, and then we ended up with five by my senior year because The school was making a bunch of budget cuts and like club sports were the first ones to go. So then it was finding sponsors after that that would kind of wanna fund us. And then it was finding families that were super generous and wanted to help us out. And then it was also just convincing like my team that they had to I guess like pull their weight. Like we unfortunately had to have dues and I explained to them the best way that I could that if like You didn't pay, we don't have a team. And then we were doing a bunch of fundraising events and at first I don't know that everybody was really on board to do that. But then again I explained, I was like, then we can't go to playoffs and then I mean that like definitely lit a fire under their ass after that. But it was definitely definitely the money. That was that was the killer. speaker-1: Yeah, one thing there's one detail on I believe it's your white sweater. It might be on the the green one as well. It's a distinct detail. ⁓ there's a blue and purple ribbon at the at the bottom of it. ⁓ what does that stand for? What does it mean to you and for the team? speaker-3: Yeah, so that one that one's really special. That was a I I decided to put that on there. So that's the McKennaway symbol. I guess I'll briefly tell the story. So McKenna was a hockey player. She was a goalie in the Tampa area and her dream was to play for USF, which she was the first person that I knew about that like had dreamed to play on my team. So she was always so special. And unfortunately she was a victim of cyberbullying and took her own life, her senior year. And her mom has just been both of her parents have just been amazing. They have really just tried to take her story and share it with everybody and they're trying to take action legally, federally, get bills passed. So I have just been doing everything in my power to keep our team really, really close with her mom, her family, the McKennaway org. And so I thought, you know, she Thirty-four, which was McKenna's numbers, retired on our team. So I thought putting in that symbol on there was really a great way that I knew when I left, like it was always gonna be a part of us, no matter what. And Jules, our president now has been doing such an amazing job at working with Cheryl, working with the McKennaway and making sure that we keep that connection and we keep ⁓ kind of just promoting her story and ⁓ doing away with cyberbullying. speaker-1: Yeah, that's awesome. speaker-0: I love that side of it and super proud of you and your whole team for continuing that tradition which stands today and is honored every single year with your program and throughout college hockey south. Now we take to the present where you are part of a PWHL franchise, one that's made history. We've seen the record breaking crowds, we've seen the new name, the torrent. Tell us what goes into your day as part of hockey ops there. Yep. speaker-3: I like I tell everybody I have the coolest job in the entire world. I love it so much. Day to day is really different, just depending on what needs to get done. Wake up, the girls have breakfast, lift, activation, team meetings, practice, whatever. I'm kind of there just to help them with whatever they might need, and then also like make sure the coaches know what. where they're at during the day, make sure they have everything they need to run a practice. We work closely with the GM to fill in on her side of things. Our equipment managers we work we work it's really cool because like you kinda just especially with like a new program, you kinda just fill in where you're needed. So like some days I'm working with like our strength and conditioning team and putting together like weight racks and stuff like that or finding different things for our equipment managers. So like basic like practice days are really, really different every day, which is really cool. speaker-1: So your first game, sold out crowd in Vancouver's. I thought they were gonna play in where the Canucks play, but no, they played in the Pacific Coliseum. I had no clue that building was even still standing. You sent me pictures from there and I was like, wait a minute. I'm like looking at the ceiling. And it's like one of those old barns where it's like unique and it's not like the newer ones where it all everything kind of looks the same. ⁓ you know, Pavel Burray and Tr Trevor Linden and Stan Schmiel, if you guys know who that is, famous Canucks. ⁓ and then second game. You guys set the record for largest crowd for a US women's hockey game. Like even Hillary Knight, who's a US hockey legend, you know, won Olympic medals, world championships. Even she was saying like this it was a pinch me moment for her, saying like how emotional it was for her. Take us through those two days for you, like from from like dusk to to dawn or dawn to dusk. What what were those experiences like? speaker-3: Yeah, those were definitely the craziest days of my entire life in like the best way possible. Vancouver, seeing their they have redone their entire facility. It's completely branded to them. It's their home rank. So getting to see that was really, really cool. I guess. So starting off the day, we went there for morning skate and it was Definitely like a calm before the storm type of thing. Got to set everything up, make sure like the benches were set, refs knew where they were going, our girls had what they needed, set up all the jerseys, and then went back later and the place was absolutely packed. There was a line. I wanna say the game was at I think it was a five PM game and the line was down the street three hours before doors opened. Everyone in Vancouver was really, really excited to have them and to have us. And it was just the most surreal feeling and watching two expansion teams play each other for the first time was like just unbelievable. ⁓ and it was the same thing for all of our players. All of our players were coming off the ice and they were just so surprised. And that feeling was carried over and so insane for our home game in Seattle. We ⁓ we went there for in the morning, we were doing rehearsals to watch some of our videos play and to get like the lights and the music right, which is really cool on its own because we get to choose kind of like the little things behind the scene, like what song plays where and like what the crowd would want to hear and what videos they would want to see at certain times. ⁓ so to be able to help with that atmosphere was also just something I never thought I'd be able to do, but it was something really cool that I really, really enjoyed. and then we going into it, we kind of knew behind the scenes we were gonna break the record. So it there was just so much energy around it to s watch the seats actually fill up ⁓ and to pack everything and it was definitely a surprise to our players. We were kind of trying to not tell anybody what was going on. And we middle of the game, I think, I think by like the second period, we got a text saying like we officially broke the record. And it was a moment with like me, my GM and my director just all looking at each other and we were in the box and we got to look out and see like just 16,000 people enjoying what we created and enjoying like our team and ⁓ our players. We got to see them looking up and just in awe of everything. So it was like everything I got to do at USF but amplified. speaker-0: Yeah, relating it back to your your college experience, like could you imagine yourself one going from the place you did, moving all the way, taking those risks? Like, do you think that's a cornerstone to how you decide to go to Seattle, take this challenge and then take it in full stride? Or does it kind of relate more to like yeah, like you just growing into the role you wanted to be? Yeah. speaker-3: It was ⁓ so I I like to say that I did everything with ⁓ so much optimism, like unrealistic optimism. ⁓ so like when I was going down to USF and I made that big move from Jersey ⁓ and kind of just decided to create the hockey team, I did it without even thinking about it. So then when I decided when I got offered the job in Seattle, it was like I have to I have to take it. You know, from everything that I did in Florida, there's no reason for me not to take this next jump, this next step, because it worked out so well for me at school, which I'm I'm so glad I took it. speaker-1: Our first tournament of the year was the Columbus Classic. That was the first time USF was playing any hockey games without you as a part of the team. And I think it was the last game of the tournament. ⁓ I was running the score clock and you were on music. So we're I was sitting like right next to you for the USF game and it was like watching a mom like send her kids off to their first day of school. It was so funny. But you could tell you had the passion for it, which was really, really cool. speaker-3: Yeah, that team is still we only we graduated five girls last year when I graduated and the rest are all juniors right now. So it's still like basically the same team. And that's like like USF I feel like will always be my proudest accomplishment. ⁓ and again, Jules, like she's doing such an amazing job at running this team right now. And I have another best friend Annie on the team. So like to watch them play and especially like play with one another, I just like like That's like my favorite team and I tell everybody that. speaker-0: Hey, and not to mention our favorite co-host, Lizzie Pennogen, holding it down in the blue line, physical as ever. I'm I'm surprised we haven't seen her with a Gordy Alhat trick yet. I think she's gotta answer the bell and get ⁓ so for all of our listeners, you're a trailblazer, and I think we've talked to some women especially in college hockey south that have gone on and set examples like you are. So give us and our listeners that thing that you think makes the difference and what got you to where you are. Where you're going and what is your piece of advice to anyone that wants to really go after their dreams in hockey or elsewhere? speaker-3: My biggest thing, I think where most people fail is their mindset with everything. I think everybody has it in their head that, you know, sports especially, really, really competitive industry. I mean we know that. But I think where they all fail is the fact that they think, ⁓ it's too hard, I'm I'm not gonna do it. I can't do it. It's like I'm never gonna get picked for anything, and and there's people better than me. And I've personally I've met now a lot of amazing people that have obviously succeeded in the sports industry. And I've never ever met somebody with that mentality on anything. Like I've met so many people that now we're creating women's hockey up in the Pacific Northwest in a league that didn't exist three years ago, and it's just and Everybody I've met is now so successful and not a single one of them was like, wow, this could never happen. So I think it's it's really, really important that you just go into everything, not I think acknowledging the fact that it's gonna be difficult and then working harder because of it and not just quitting would be where I think that most people would find more success. speaker-0: Well, I think the boys have ⁓ strung out all their words today. I I have too, but I listen, because you're I can also tell you you're you're a fantastic person, a fantastic leader. ⁓ I have no doubt that you have earned your spot where you are. And ⁓ everybody here is so proud of you. From our desks to the College Hockey South Desk to Kyle, everybody involved. Thank you so much, Bella, for coming on. We really appreciate it. And shout out to Petey for helping us out with this one. speaker-3: Thank you guys. speaker-0: Great sit down with Bella and Petey, Bontempo, Danny. This was one where the sibling rivalry didn't really come out. They were very, very cordial. But the the the Gordy Howe hat trick is gonna stick in my mind 'cause I saw that video go to the group chat and ⁓ for as young as Bella looks in that, I they look like they hated each other in that clip. Yeah. speaker-1: rarely do you know ⁓ an interview is just gonna be a home run. That one I knew was was gonna be fantastic, especially with PD there. I can't say I would get through an interview with one of my siblings riding shotgun when they're diving through my ⁓ but yeah, that you could tell there there's a whole lot of love there and the yeah, the Bontempo family, they're great people. ⁓ I've I've loved ⁓ getting to work with them and getting to know them. It was a great time talking to them. speaker-0: Bella's gonna get the graphic, but Petey's just along for the ride and part of all the greatness of that edition. And not a lot going on, obviously. We only had one weekend, but some news came out of this ⁓ slate here in mid-December. The South Carolina women's team cracked the top ten in the Southeast Region rankings for a women's division two. It's the first time there has been a women's team officially ranked within the ACHA columns. Danny may just be a mark of you know, ceremonious ⁓ achievement as South Carolina will not be going to ACHA nationals. I still think it's really cool to see them get on the graphic and be part of the mix with some teams like High Point in a region with the Naval Academy among others. speaker-1: Totally, totally. You know, it's their probationary year. So, like you mentioned, no nationals and ultimately the ranking doesn't mean too too much, but it's an achievement. And in their first year, you know, they had a couple of tough losses where, you know, they ended up losing by a whole bunch. But since then, man, has has there been a better team in the conference? Man, it you you can argue there have been teams as good as them, but I don't know if you could say anyone's been better and they've beaten high point. So yeah, really, really cool to see South Carolina just continue to build that program. speaker-0: Also, know you're proud as a GameCock yourself. Gotta have a little bit of framework there to go off. Congrats to everybody involved with that woman's program on the rank. We had our College Hockey South All Stars for the Europe trip. The rest of them announced by the time you hear this. Starting with on Monday, Trace Cowert for Tampa M3, Christian Cuccia from the M2 FAU squad last year's Player of the Year in Men's Division III. Put up some staggering numbers, having a good start to his year. As an M2 player, Reagan Lyon for Tampa as well, along with Luke Haggett from Alabama, and Ryan Chambre, Florida State, AC, DC. One of the guys part of the podcast bump. And I don't remember if I'm the one that said Ryan Chambre in this crew, but there's some names on this list I'm about to announce that I said last week you'd said weren't on this list, and they are. So I'm gonna take some some credit here. speaker-1: Yeah, well officially and we can bring Gavin into this now, because two weeks ago I asked you guys to make official predictions on who you think will make the roster, and now I'll ⁓ I'll go through and say the remaining names. The number forty one, returning player, Kyle Meyer, Christian Sousa from Kennesaw State, James Kravis was the name you mentioned from Kennesaw State, Alex Jensen from Florida State, Tyler Hofberg from Tampa ⁓ three, Tommy Chunchikov of Chunchikov Island fame. Ethan De Mumbrum from Middle Tennessee State and Sebastian Zamborski. Now, you two guys, I put you on the spot and asked you to put some predictions out there on who would be on the roster. And Gavin was very noble, I would say. He didn't say Will Marshall, which was very, very I mean, he had some inside information, to be fair. And it was the safest bet possible if it was to say Will Marshall. He didn't. However, he was the only he only he was He got the only correct answer. You guys went one for six. He picked Robert Renner, who will be on the decor there. But wow, guys, this is it it it's a fun roster. I love seeing the different schools. Also, we have the coaches, which we'll get to in a little bit. But Devin, Gavin, what do you guys think? Okay. ⁓ well, ⁓ producer Gavin can't be heard right now, but he's beaming. He's smiling from ear to ear because he was one for three. Devin, go ahead. speaker-0: Well, speaking on behalf of Gavin, shoot or shoot, and they ball out. I think he balled down the picks. You gave him some good hints too. On my side, I just figured they were gonna go with some diversity, some bigger guys. I think Christian Tousa and James Kravis fit the mold on the Kennesaw State side. You're needing to get the best of the best. You see the vast majority Tampa, Middle Tennessee, the Florida Atlantics. I liked how they sprinkled in some different divisions. ACDC, you got Florida State guys here, M3. Just as much as the M2. And the returning players are very important, which keep in touch for the leadership core being announced, as there will be some good announcements for players that did return to the roster. That's all I'm gonna leave it at. But we got some more on social media you have to stay tuned for. What a solid roster. I think this is gonna go very, very well. And their European schedule, January 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th. They've got games over in France. So be sure to stick to the Social media page, Instagram, X, wherever you get your news about College Hockey South, and of course college hockey south dot com to see what those matchups and what they all mean come the new year. Final thing we want to talk about on this what right I think the the the coaches how can we forget? Hey hey, we're getting to a late hour. Come on. I appreciate you catching me there. Go bench boxes here. Bench boss. Okay, well yeah, sure. I'll take speaker-1: Coaches Devon. Okay, there's the break. Go ahead. speaker-0: No, no, I'll take the lance. I will just hand it off. I will. What? No, I will. I'm taking What's that what's that from ⁓ damn it, the Vietnam movie where they're like speaker-1: Yeah, you will. I'm gonna pet my dog. Gavin, put this in. I don't remember her college hockey mouth debut. speaker-0: Is that G.I. Joe? I don't know what what a southerner like Danny names his dog. That's right. Chicago guy. speaker-1: Wrigley. Her name is Wrigley. Okay, now for the coaches that'll be behind the bench for the College Hockey South European All-Stars. We have a national champion from this past March, Nick Kuzlik of the Division Two Tampa team, JJ Murray, who won a conference championship with Middle Tennessee State, Jack Walsh of the University of Tampa ⁓ three, and another KSU representative, Kyle Stevenson. I think he's done a absolutely amazing job turning that program around. ⁓ they were, you know, proverbial cellar dwellers in CHS and previously, you know, other named conferences. And they've been super, super competitive. And although their record may not show it this year, they're still a very scrappy and ⁓ capable team. ⁓ so happy to see Coach Stevenson get the nod and ⁓ the representation there. speaker-0: This college hockey south coaching staff is among the best of the best because these are different programs at different points. Middle Tennessee has been on the climb and they're now reaching their peak as a unit. Tampa's been there. You get the solidified pairing there with Kuzlik and Walsh, who have built the most sustained success among any college hockey south program. And then you get Kennesaw State with Kyle Stevenson, who is a motivator. He gets the most out of his guys every single time they're on the ice. I think every year they exceed expectations, especially the last two years. So he's well deserved part of that coaching staff. Congrats to everybody involved because all eyes are going to be on France January first through the ninth for all of those all-stars. And how about the broadcast crew announced too? You know, we've got Luis DePolo. Charlie Serafian and yourself, Danny Bone. We didn't put on the sheet, but congrats on being named an all-star. speaker-1: You know, Devin, I wish I could say it was a surprise, but it's not. Not my first time being an all-star. Probably won't be my last. No, I mean it's an awesome ⁓ opportunity and the experience I'm sure I'll remember for the rest of my life. ⁓ you know, these games are gonna be awesome. The experiences going abroad and, you know, seeing all these foreign places that ⁓ I've never been before. So super, super excited to represent CHS on this trip. speaker-0: If we don't get another episode in before this and ask, what are you looking forward to most besides the hockey? speaker-1: Besides the hockey, I've heard tell of a ski trip on one of the days. I've never gone skiing before, but the first lady of College Hockey South, Montana Nell, has been encouraging me to try my hand at it. Or, you know, I think there's another group that's going to like a Christmas market in Germany or something like that. But no, I want to try my hand at skiing. I'll I'll bust my ass if I have to. speaker-0: I just think if we gotta get a video of it. You have to let somebody record your first time down. Because that first time on your hill, I know exactly how it's gonna go, but I wanna see it anyway. Or maybe I don't. Maybe you turn an Olympic, you know, style slalomer. Left and right. Hey, keep your speed up, but always keep your foot dragged. Make sure that you're knowing how to stop. That's the most important thing. That's my only advice to you. Good luck the rest of it. That's from a snowboarder, by the way. Besides speaker-1: Yeah, don't hold your breath there, pal. speaker-0: Besides the Europe trip news, we had our college hockey south game of the week, the only weekend series. Florida Golf Coast ⁓ three taking on Colorado Mesa. Two top forty teams was the advertised story. Colorado Mesa found a way in game number one with a seven to six victory. They scored in the closing seconds in the final minute to take the lead on route to four power play goals. Now, Danny, it looked like Florida Golf Coast had this game to control early, but Mesa just would not go away. They found a way on nearly every single power play. And as we always say, that was the difference in a Florida Gulf Coast upset. speaker-1: Yeah, super out of character for Florida Gulf Coast. ⁓ we hyped them up on ⁓ Nathan Walker's episode of how good their team defense is and you know how few goals they they give up. And they didn't allow many shots. ⁓ they kind of overwhelmed Mesa in that way. But yeah, they they were shorthanded too often and Mesa found a way. Credit to them. You know, we mentioned God, who was it? I don't know. But i y you're gonna go on a cross country trip and travel, I don't know how many hours and miles. You're gonna You gotta play the full sixty, right? You can't give up on a game that you go across the country for. And they didn't. It it was five to two at one point, and it really looked like ⁓ Golf Coast was gonna win going away. Our McDonald's man, Nathan Walker, picking up ⁓ a goal and an apple. He may have finished with more, but man, ⁓ you know, that guy was he must have been furiously eating McDonald's after that game because seven to six cannot sit well for that Florida Golf Coast team. speaker-0: Yeah, and a goal and assist to go with the podcast bump on night one. But night two was a better story, and our guy was front and center. He had the only power play goal for Florida Gulf Coast in that game. Tie game through the second period and then to the third. Golf Coast had so many chances to beat goaltender John Hickam in net for Mesa, who stops 48 of 50, 18 to 5 for the shots in the third, but in overtime, it's ultimately. Jacob Lang Heinrich with the game winning goal, 329 in. Ryan Alamian had the assist on it, and a good performance, considering that I know Florida Golf Coast is gonna feel bitter about that loss. And in another edition of Kodajaki Mouth, you'll hear about some of the rankings that we talked about, what it all means. I think Florida Golf Coast is gonna feel like there was a missed opportunity here for a sweep. However, it's always good to get the overtime win and get some of the juice back in these guys. And by the way, BJ Ricardis, top thirty three of thirty four. I think that's some player of the week consideration. speaker-1: It's certainly a missed opportunity for Golf Coast to, you know, polish off a a sweep, you know. Look, it I don't know what point I was gonna make. You never wanna lose a three goal lead in hockey. You wanna be able to salt those away ⁓ a hundred times out of a hundred, but you know, stuff happens. It is what it is. Gotta give a shout out to our friend in the broadcast booth. I d I didn't catch the the gentleman's name, but super, super descriptive on ⁓ black dog hockey for Florida Golf Coast down there. He could not believe the size of some of the Colorado Mesa players. He was he was enamored by the size of these guys. He was like, Look at the size of that stick. He's sick he's gotta be six four, six five. Man, he he was having a ball and it he didn't stop. And and you know what? He was super ⁓ he was super he was trying to hammer home the point of golf coast taking too many penalties and that it was gonna lead to their demise in the game of the week. And he was right. I mean he said it ad nauseum, but he was a hundred percent right. speaker-0: Great New Jersey Italian accent, by the way. That was dear spot on with the Golf Coast announcer. And you were right. They were a big team. They they were able to impose their will physically at times. Congrats to Folder Golf Coast, though, on getting the win on night two. And with that overtime winner, Golf Coast improved to thirteen eight ⁓ and Still firmly within the ⁓ ranks of College Hockey South. Of course, they're number twenty five right now, but We'll see where they go in the next official rankings in just about a week's time. So that'll just about wrap it up for episode seventeen. Danny, as we head into some holiday festivities, Gavin, I so wish I could ask you this question too. I'll talk to you all. So close and so far away. You know, what do you got what are you looking forward to most, European trip aside, about the holiday season coming up? speaker-1: But you're so far away. Holiday season coming up. I go home to Maryland. I see some friends and family. That that's always a blast. One of the highlights of the year. R it's a really nice bookend. Bowl season is fun, college football. But it it gets kind of dry sports wise. And then you get into that like foggy haze area post Christmas where you don't know what day it is and you're just a little bit confused. So I don't know. And h the holiday season is is just always a a very lively time of year. makes you feel warm and and and cozy, especially when you're with the the people you love. ⁓ and I'm I'm excited. We we have some some fun things planned in the pipeline, recapping the twenty twelve twenty twenty-five portion of the CHS schedule here on the podcast. You know, we're gonna have a great time as we have the first seventeen episodes, which is crazy to me, ⁓ that we've done 17 episodes. It feels like this is, you know, number two. ⁓ but yeah Devin, how about you? What do you got going on for the holidays? speaker-0: I'm gonna shoot up to Tampa after seeing my dad and grandma. It's a good time because my cousins and I were pretty distant most of my lives. Like I lived in Michigan, they were in Florida, would see them only on holidays, and this will be the first time I think I'm gonna spend Christmas with them and get to do the whole morning and stuff. So very excited for that. And gonna be somewhat of a new experience for me, you know, and even wilder. It's been just over about a year here in Florida. And you know, you talked about how Awesome it is to do this with you guys. I'm so grateful personally to endeavor on this with you, Danny, with Gavin in the background, with Lizzie, with Petey, all the people that have come on the podcast so far. It's been such a terrific experience to get to know all of you inside this group and around the conference. And I think that's what makes me so reflective about this time of year is just how far we've all come and how much more we're gonna do together before it's all said and done. So with that being said, thank All of you for listening to this part up until now. And thanks to Bella Bontempo for coming on this edition as well as Petey. And we look forward to everyone traveling. Be safe. Enjoy time with your family. And next time we'll talk to you, we'll, like Danny said, break down some of the ⁓ 2025 best moments and some of the playoff predictions coming up. So a lot more to look forward to. But for now, this has been episode 17, a sit-down with Bella Bontempo on this edition of College Hockey Mouth. So long everybody.