Short-handed on campus

By Jeremy Herb

In case you haven't noticed, slap shots, high sticking and one-timers have all returned to the HP Pavilion, as the San Jose Sharks are playing hockey again after a 15-month absence.

Yes, hockey has officially returned, but at Santa Clara, pucks and sticks aren't a part of the school's vocabulary.

In the same way that the Canadian pastime has lost its status as one of the four major U.S. sports, hockey at Santa Clara has taken a back seat to lacrosse, ultimate frisbee and even rock climbing.

The last time Santa Clara had a hockey team was 1996, according to The Santa Clara archives. In '96, junior Matt Goelzer, a transfer from Boston College, formed our inaugural ice hockey team, which boasted 22 members.

I don't know how long they stayed together, but considering that the coach resigned early on, I would be surprised if they were still around the following school year.

The 10-year anniversary of our first hockey team is next year. In those 10 years, the Sharks have made the playoffs six times and have helped create a viable hockey community.

Both Logitech Ice and Rollin' Ice, San Jose's premier ice and roller hockey facilities, are within a few miles of campus. The two rinks cater to colleges. Logitech houses San Jose State's ice hockey team and Rollin' Ice hosted a college roller hockey tournament two weeks ago where 14 teams from California and Nevada attended. Even two of the area's junior colleges, De Anza and West Valley, had teams playing.

On facebook, the hockey club has 30 members, yet there is nothing hockey-related in the real world on campus.

This year, the NHL is attempting to bring casual fans back to hockey. I suggest we do the same here. The NHL claims the games are more exciting and feature more scoring now, so why don't we get anyone interested in hockey together to watch games?

Santa Clara doesn't need a team that practices three times a week -- just something organized that's fun and lets anyone who is addicted to pucks, sticks and Canadian culture get their weekly dosage.

It has been 10 years since we last had hockey at Santa Clara. That needs to change. This year's freshman class is enormous and I bet there are plenty of students to form a team.

Let's take a lesson from our pep band. Last year, two freshmen realized what was missing in Santa Clara athletics and did something about it.

So, why not hockey, eh?

Contact Jeremy Herb at (408) 551-1918 or JMHerb@scu.edu.