Written By: Lucas Morgan
Contributing Writer
The Monarchs have only four weeks left in the regular season to make a final push for the post-season. Their playoff bid took a near-fatal blow when they lost to James Madison on Jan. 13
The loss means that ODU now has to win the last four divisional games of the season in order to qualify for the playoffs. ODU is a member of the Atlantic Division in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference.
The first must-win game is on Friday, Jan. 27 at 11 p.m. against local rival William and Mary. W&M is undefeated in divisional play and beat ODU earlier this year, 10-6. To combat the firepower of W&M, head coach Rich Appleby wants to use a defensive strategy.
“We can be weak defensively,” Appleby said. “Too many freshmen didn’t understand the system at first.”
Appleby believes with the different styles and skill levels on the team, it can be difficult to mold the team to play well defensively. One technique Appleby has been working with is known as a trap system.
According to club president and goaltender Tyler Duchaine, the system essentially is meant to frustrate the opposing team in the neutral zone to make them cough up the puck.
“On paper it looks simple, but it takes a lot of discipline,” Duchaine said. “The biggest thing against W&M is to limit shots. They average around 50 shots per game. Ideally, we’ll have guys laying down and diving to block shots.”
Though the Monarchs must improve on defense to finish the season strong, there are many positives to their game. According to coach Appleby, the team has good self-control, doesn’t get too wild and takes few penalties. Their biggest success this season has been their goal scoring ability.
“We don’t have an offensive strategy because we’ve got guys that can score goals,” Appleby said. “We just let them be offensive. We’re not worried about scoring goals.”
According to Appleby, forward William Bock is a top 10 goal scorer in the league and Alex Clark is in the top 15. They are both freshmen.
Third-year forward Adam Kosna is fourth on the team in points and an alternate captain..
“We have a lot of talent to score goals,” Kosna said. “We could be the best team in the area, just sometimes we can’t put it all together. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you leave your goalie out to dry, you won’t win.”
Perhaps the biggest issue facing ODU Ice Hockey is the level of support from ODU fans.
“These guys deserve to play in front of people,” Duchaine said. “It does get frustrating when people don’t know there’s a team. I feel like [hockey] may get a bad rap from people that don’t understand, like people think it’s all toothless goons out there.”
Duchaine maintains his opinion that it is tough to operate a program like hockey with the limitations of being a club sport. He is, however, quick to thank the Student Recreation Center.
“The SRC has really stepped up with help. We have a good rapport with them and support is growing every year,” he said.
Though help from the school is appreciated, the players would love more fan support. They are mindful, however, that their home rink is in Virginia Beach and that it might be difficult for students to make it out to games.
According to Kosna, there are at least 30-40 ODU fans every game. He notes that Christopher Newport can sometimes have up to 200 or 300 people at games.
“[Playing at] CNU is so fun because of the atmosphere,” Kosna said. “More fans means more incentive to do what maybe you normally wouldn’t to win…it’s more intense.”
Kosna believes that because they are a club team and not a nationally recognized sports team it has an impact on their fan turnout. Since NCAA hockey is only in the northern states, all the best players in this area who go to schools like ODU play on club teams.
As club president, Duchaine has done numerous things to help promote hockey around the ODU community, one of his favorites is managing the team’s Facebook page. He started “Meet the Monarchs” which is a semi-daily post introducing players in alphabetical order.
“It comes from me studying [public relations] and following pro-teams and how they promote their players,” Duchaine said. “Part of ‘Meet the Monarchs’ is to get guys out there…we have some interesting personalities.”
Coach Appleby, Kosna and Duchaine all truly believe that if people go to at least one game, they’ll see that it’s a fast, hard hitting and fun game to watch.
“I’ve been trying my hardest to make clear we’re not just an independent, random team…we’re not your chess club,” Duchaine said.
For information about schedules, tickets, player bios and more, visit odhc.goaline.ca. ODU hockey plays William and Mary on Friday at the Hampton Roads Iceplex.
Photo – Facebook.com
Very good writing for a cub reporter…keep up the good work….Gary