Look, I’m not the biggest sports person. I didn’t grow up watching sports on the television like most kids did. However, if someone were to ask me what sports I liked the most, three things come to mind. First is dance, which is what I did in high school and still love today. Figure skating is the second, which as a kid I became curious about after ice skating for the first time. Last of all? Hockey.
Ice hockey on the West Coast isn’t as popular as it is in other parts of the United States, but you’d be surprised to discover that almost every UC and Cal State has a hockey team, including our very own here at UCSB. However, as a result of this general lack of popularity in hockey here in California, a quick look through their website and Instagram made me realize one thing: people don’t even know the team exists.
The origin story
After a bit of research, I found out that UCSB’s hockey team has an interesting origin.
When searching for “UCSB Ice Hockey” on Google, I found out that the Daily Nexus, UCSB’s independent student-run newspaper, had actually written about the hockey team in 2010, right when their collegiate run began. With its tagline, “Wait, UCSB Has an Ice Hockey Team?,” Ravi Bhatia, former UCSB alumni and Daily Nexus writer, gave us an inside look on how the team began. They interviewed Matthew Snyder and Jacob Wiskel, two of its founding members, and explained how the ice hockey team at the time was completely self-funded and organized by the original team itself:
A quick read of this article had me invested in their background. Since the article was written almost two decades ago, there were some obvious points that are now outdated, but some still remained true. The current UCSB Hockey team is still student-run today, with new coaching staff and leadership. However, they now host their home games at Ice in Paradise, which is located in Goleta and was originally fundraised by the Greater Santa Barbara Ice Skating Association, finally reaching their donation goals in 2014 and opening to the public officially in 2015. This is the same ice rink that students frequently attend today and are able to go to for a discount on Tuesday nights.
So why do I like hockey?
As I said before, I didn’t grow up watching sports, and hockey wasn’t excluded from this. To this day I struggle to find time to even watch the NHL games that are happening right now. However, I don’t think any of this puts down the fact I do love the sport.
Prior to arriving to college, my previous interest in figure skating made me take notice of ice hockey, although this was never fully developed. Perhaps what makes the origin of my love so funny is it actually came from books.
I think anyone who is on BookTok has seen the mass amount of hockey romance novels that are currently published. I’d be a liar if I said I haven’t read my fair share, and I’d be an even bigger liar if I said I didn’t enjoy them when I did. There’s a fair amount of discourse on this topic too: arguments being made about questionable fans acting inappropriately to real life hockey players wanting to live through their hockey boyfriend fantasies. I always try to acknowledge these sorts of things when discussing this topic; however, I also want to highlight what hockey media has positively done.
If you’re online, you’ve probably at least heard of the hit book adaptation series known as Heated Rivalry, which follows the story of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, two male hockey players who develop an unexpected romance. There’s many opinions that could be made about this explicit series, but there’s one point I’d like to make: Heated Rivalry has increased the image of ice hockey overall. Hockey, a sport stereotypically (and somewhat truthfully) known to be misogynistic and homophobic in nature, can cause some people to easily stray away. However, with the rise of these romance series and shows like Heated Rivalry, I’ve noticed a general increase in positivity toward the sport, which truthfully makes me happy.
So, back to me. Once I started reading these stories, I began paying attention to real-life hockey. Never watched games in full, but I would peek at stats or see the results of the games once in a while. Not enough to pick a favorite team, but enough to keep my interest. Since I did only look at these vaguely though, I didn’t really put much thought or effort into being a proper fan of the sport.
It was a real surprise when I arrived at UCSB and found out our school had a hockey team. Truthfully, I didn’t see much advertisement about it, and I honestly can’t remember how I found out. Yet, when I went to one of their games with my friends on a whim for the first time, all that previous excitement and engrossment I had towards hockey came rushing back.
Hockey is exciting. One of the unique game mechanics is how fast-paced the sport truly is. Players are constantly being switched out and put back in. It’s fair game to physically attack the other players. Fights are common. The puck moves fast. All of this occurs in a cold rink with fans cheering around you, screaming for their team like they’re the ones playing, and honestly? I get it. I can’t imagine how exhilarating it must be to actually play the game.
the hockey team deserves attention
Currently, UCSB Ice Hockey’s Instagram has over 3,000 followers, and fans regularly attend their home games, filling up the seats. However, when I talk to most people about our team, the most common response is surprise that there’s even a team. It makes sense: in comparison to our other sports like men’s soccer or baseball, which have over 16,000 and 33,000 followers respectively, it’s not surprising that most students are unaware the hockey team exists.
To be frank, very few articles have been written about the hockey team, which is why I wanted to explore the topic. I think that ice hockey is fascinating and so exciting to experience up close. I highly encourage UCSB students to take the time to catch one of their home games that occur on weekends. Tickets are free for all, and well, who wouldn’t want to see a bunch of guys up close fight each other?
In all seriousness, the team this year is doing exceptionally well, and I would love for them to be spotlighted more this year with more and more students taking notice in their games. They deserve the attention, and I hope that at the next home game, that rink is filled to the brim.