Author: Vanderbilt Hockey

Giving Thanks For The VU Hockey Community On Turkey Day

Coach Bernstein shares a few notes of thanks and appreciation with the VU Hockey community to kick off the 2013 holiday season.

Dear Vanderbilt Hockey faithful,

As we sit and digest our respective Thanksgiving dinners this evening surrounded by family, friends, and football, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who makes up the Vanderbilt hockey community – parents, coaches, alumni, administrators, fans, volunteers, and especially our players – for all that you do for our program.

In the summer of 2010 I had the serendipitous fortune of responding to a job posting advertising a volunteer coach role with the club. Despite knowing virtually nothing about the team, league, or players, I submitted my name for consideration because I wanted to do two things – (1) rediscover my love for the game, a passion that had been on the shelf for most of my time living in New York City and while attending business school at Vanderbilt, and (2) work with high-performing young people with strong leadership profiles who are aiming for big careers in finance, technology, and other industries.

Fast forward three and a half years later, I can say with absolute certainty that I have fulfilled those goals and then some. My commitment to the program has been one of the great joys of my life and something that I will always look back on with satisfaction and pride. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this special tradition that we have all inherited.

On that note, there are a few things I am thankful for regarding this year’s VU Hockey team that I thought I would use this forum to share. Borrowing a Letterman-esque Top-10 format, here’s the countdown. I am thankful for …

  1. Chick-fil-A. For providing sound nourishment to Vanderbilt hockey players since 1976. Delicious.
  2. Freshman Andrew Dellapina’s musical range. Andrew demonstrated his karaoke prowess by belting out Taylor Swift’s “21” followed immediately by Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid” during a recent road trip. It was like watching a young Brenden Oliver (VUH ’12) in action.
  3. The silky smooth skill of Mr. Zach Satin. It is the rare hockey player who can make a spin-o-rama look like a pirouette while having his teammates cheer him on in awe from the bench.
  4. The referees overlooking an untold number of elbows and cross-checks by freshman defenseman Nick “The Hulk” Honkala. This in addition to the ones they did call. Yes, there were a lot of penalties, but as Mickey Andrews said of his 1990s Florida State football defenses, “You gotta live on the edge sometimes.” Nick, keyword in that statement: “sometimes.”
  5. Learning a lesson about underestimating an opponent. Heading into our Saturday game versus Life University, the boys assumed we would be playing a lesser team in the second of three tilts of our weekend trip. Well, as is often the case with assumptions, we ran into a buzz saw versus Life (a graduate university for chiropractic students). I distinctly remember watching their players enter the facility and thinking, “My God, these guys are men!” The thrashing we took in that third period will stick with the boys and me for quite a while.
  6. Club President Jack Delehey organizing the club’s first merchandising campaign. Thanks to the help of the chronically injured yet endlessly positive four-year starter, scores of Vanderbilt hockey fans and players across the globe will be outfitted with officially licensed VU hockey “swag” come Christmas time. Interested in scoring your own gear? Email Jack (jack.m.delehey@vanderbilt.edu), he’ll take care of you.1412490_755731234440769_2086871938_o
  7. Goalie Bo Korpman having the opportunity to take a face-off, log his first road win, and notch his first ever shutout, all in the same weekend. As part of the Georgia Tech club’s “Lt Tyler Brown Night” which honored a GT alumnus who was killed in Iraq in 2004, Bo gladly agreed to take the ceremonial face-off on behalf of Vanderbilt. He then proceeded to shut out GT for 55 minutes en route to a 5-1 victory. He followed that with a Sunday shut-out versus Georgia 4-0.
  8. John Longman’s laser in overtime versus the Florida Gators. In a must-win game versus a top-10 team and SEC East rival, freshman John Longman concluded a virtuoso performance in regulation by rifling a slap shot home from the blue line just 14 seconds into overtime to seal the victory.
  9. Our amazing coaches. Coach Holston, Coach Kanouff, and the newest addition to our staff Coach Rice have been the linchpins for the club’s organization and success this season. I have appreciated everything that these guys volunteer in terms of enthusiasm, passion, and general knowledge about the game. The boys and I are lucky to have them aboard.

And the number one thing I am thankful for from the Fall 2013 semester …

  1. Support from the Nashville hockey community. We are so blessed to be in a hotbed of hockey enthusiasm and support. (Yes folks from the Northeast and Midwest, people are rabid about the game in these parts!) We are enormously thankful for our friends at Penalty Box Radio (@PenaltyBoxRadio) who have covered the team’s latest updates (thanks Stan!), managed our public address responsibilities at games (thanks Justin!), and tended to injured players (thanks Big Ben!). We’d also like to thank Pete Weber (@PeteWeberSports), a luminary figure in the Nashville hockey community who has been nice enough to support our efforts from the very first meeting of our 2013/14 season. Finally, we’d like to thank Andee Boiman and her team at the Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) for helping us build towards a more sustainable future for our program. (More on this to follow in next year’s message … !)

It remains my tremendous pleasure to interact with the players, coaches, administrators, volunteers, parents, and every other person associated with this great organization. On behalf of my wife Betsy (a.k.a., Mrs. Coach) and me, have a happy remainder of your Thanksgiving holiday and a wonderful 2013 holiday season. We look forward to making 2014 a phenomenal one for this hockey family!

ANCHOR DOWN!

Best,
Coach B

Team Dinner, Maple Syrup Meatballs Fail To Produce Wins In Home Opener

When a young hockey team enters a new season, sometimes it takes a while for the group to find the right recipe for success against more seasoned, veteran-laden competition. For the 2013/14 Vanderbilt Commodores ice hockey club, that perfect recipe remains elusive through the first two weekends of the year.

One thing is for certain, though, the recipe does not include maple syrup.

“It’s A Secret Ingredient!”

Senior Captain and Team Chef Anthony Bilotta posing shirtless with his world famous pasta and maple syrup meatballs

Prior to the club’s home opener in Franklin, Tenn, versus Ole Miss, the “Frozen Commies” (link) convened for a pre-game dinner at senior Anthony Bilotta’s apartment. Bilotta, who prior to Friday’s game was named team captain for the 2013/14 campaign, was kind enough to both host and cook.

“I was excited to kick off the season the right way, with pasta and meatballs like we used to do in high school,” explained Bilotta.

A native of Leominster, Mass, he channeled his Italian-meets-New-England roots to pop a little extra carbo-loading into an already rich meal.

“I used an entire bottle of Aunt Jemima in the meatball mix,” said Bilotta, channeling the self-confidence of a young Chef Mario Batali. “It gives it that little extra pizzazz that keeps you guessing.”

The reviews were all appreciative … and mixed. “I’m a spontaneous guy, I like to keep myself guessing as much as the next guy,” said freshman John Longman, “just not when it comes to meatballs. When it comes to Italian food, give me a little spaghetti, some Rao’s sauce, a plain jane meatball, parmesan cheese, and I’m good to go.”

The dinner also included a few heated rounds of MarioKart, the perfect way to get the competitive blood flowing for a big hockey game.

Carbo-loading and MarioKart, a pre-game ritual made in Heaven

Out-Classed (on the Scoreboard)

The on-ice portion of the weekend proved challenging for Vanderbilt. Facing an Ole Miss team that made the ACHA DIII National Tournament last year, the club knew it was in for another battle similar to the one it faced just seven days prior against South Carolina.

Vanderbilt started strong on Friday by finishing the first period knotted at 1 on a goal by freshman Steve Wei. The second period followed a similar script though the momentum seemed to be tilted in an unfavorable direction for the home team. The problem? Stopping Ole Miss on the power play.

Said Coach Holston about the trouble, “We just weren’t adjusting to their power play. They’d work the puck around and inevitably we’d have one of our guys trying to mark two of theirs in front of the net. The math just doesn’t work there, you can’t win those battles when that happens.”

Despite goals from Longman, Bilotta, Matt Neurohr (his first in a Vanderbilt sweater), Zak Karlinski, and Zach Satin, the Commodores yielded five power play goals and an empty netter in a 9-6 loss.

Given time to reflect on the game (and game film), the Commodores mounted a more formidable defense in Saturday’s tilt but the result was the same in the win/loss column – Ole Miss 5, Vanderbilt 2.

“It’s a learning experience,” said junior Greg Kirk who, along with senior Jack Delehey and sophomore Jack Gibbons, was named alternate captain for 2013/14. “We played a tough, classy game against a seasoned group. We’ll figure out how to fix a few things and with some more practice, some more chemistry, we’ll be in good shape for the long haul this season.”

Next Up … Parents’ Weekend!

The Commodores will be back on the ice Friday (9/27) at 8:30pm and Saturday (9/28) at 3:00pm at the A-Game Sportsplex in Franklin, Tenn, as they look to get back in the win column against Indiana University. It will be the first time Vanderbilt plays the Hoosiers who will be making their 2013/14 season debut in Nashville. Tickets are free of charge and standing room will be available so stop by the Sportsplex for some awesome hockey action (or if you can’t make it stay tuned to Twitter for game updates and analysis). #ANCHORDOWN!

‘Dores Battle For 160 Minutes In SC, Return Home With 1-2 Record

Last weekend the Vanderbilt Ice Hockey Club joined Vanderbilt’s football team in heading east to take on the University of South Carolina for an early season SEC East showdown. Unlike the football team, the hockey club played the Gamecocks twice plus they sandwiched in a face-off against the Clemson Tigers, USC’s in-state rival to the north.

Three hockey games squeezed into a 38-hour period. Those are just a few of the numbers that begin to tell the story of the weekend for the Commodores. Here are the others …

24.

Number of seconds it took for the Gamecocks to score in Game 1.

The hallmark of the 2012/13 Commodores squad was slow starts so when the first period of the first game this season quickly devolved into a 3-goal deficit, returning members of the club and fans across the Twittersphere were asking, “Will we have a repeat?!”

Thankfully, also like the 2012/13 VU Hockey vintage, the club righted the ship and stormed all the way back to tie the game at 4-4 in the third period only to yield a late goal with 3:30 left and fall to @CockHockey* 5-4.

1.

Number of wins during the weekend.

On Saturday following Friday’s tough loss, Vandy enjoyed a day of food and football before hopping on a bus to travel an hour and a half north to Clemson for a late 9:45pm game. Unlike the previous night, the boys got off to a fast start and never looked back.

“Our plan was to win the first five minutes,” said sophomore Jack Gibbons, “so we made a point of firing out of the gate with hard, physical play and crisp passing, especially in our zone. Being up three after the first, it was awesome to be able to play out the last two periods from ahead rather than having to fight our way out of a hole.”

“We responded well for sure,” said senior Anthony Bilotta. “It could have been a tough one given that the rink was so odd but the boys played great and we got the W.”

Bilotta was referring to the shorter rink and the netting above the surface that made flipping the puck out of the zone next to impossible.

The only trouble for the ‘Dores that night was having to hop back on the bus and head two hours home, only to wake up a few hours later and play the USC team again.

160.

Total number of minutes the club played during the weekend.

While the scoresheets say Vanderbilt technically played 180 minutes, ask any of the boys and they’ll tell you they fell about 20 short of that total.

“What can you say other than it was pretty rough,” recalled freshman defenseman Andrew Dellapina. “We couldn’t finish a check, connect a pass, or stop a shot. It was brutal.”

In a game that started 2-2 after one, then 6-5 USC after two, Dellapina was referring to a third period that saw the Gamecocks pile on seven goals … yes, seven … in the third period to bury the ‘Dores 13-5.

Addressing a flurry of questions from the media about the implosion following the game, Coach Bernstein opted to take a long view on the loss, both backwards and forward. “Keep in mind this was the first regular season 3-game weekend our club has ever played,” said Bernstein. “Our opponents will play four games in a weekend and they’ll do it on the road as far away as Michigan. To date, we haven’t done that. It’s not an excuse, it’s just a statement of fact and a reminder that we have a lot of growing to do as a team before we can consistently compete with the better teams in our league.”

6.

Number of players who scored their first goals with the club.

Congratulations to six members of the club who scored their first ever goals wearing the Vanderbilt sweater: freshmen Steve “It’s pronounced ‘WAY’!” Wei, Zach “Like the fabric” Satin, John “Sir Snipes A-Lot” Longman, Nick “The Hulk” Honkala, and Ketul “Nickname Pending” Patel.

Special kudos goes out to junior Zak Karlinski who, after knocking on the door countless times last season, finally notched the first goal of his Vanderbilt hockey career. He promptly followed with his second with a backhand laser from the face-off dot in the second game versus USC.

* * *

Kicking Things Off At Home

The Commodores will be back in action this weekend, this time at home at the A-Game Sportsplex in Franklin, Tennessee, versus the Ole Miss Rebels on Friday night (9/20) at 8:30pm and Saturday afternoon (9/21) at 1:45pm.

franklinIf the Twitter chatter, headlined by a blanket-blitz campaign by our @PenaltyBoxRadio friends, is any indication, the crowds should be fantastic for the games. Even Coach Franklin is firing up the troops (see pic at the right)!

It should be a great couple of battles against a team that made Nationals last season. Hope to see you in Franklin … ANCHOR DOWN!

* * *

* Ahead of last year’s USC games, the Vanderbilt hockey writing staff asked and answered the question, “What is a ‘Palmetto’?” This year we’re targeting a perhaps more risqué question: What is a “gamecock”? Websters would have us believe that it is “a rooster bred and trained for cockfighting” though it seems hard to believe that a cherished academic institution such as South Carolina would pin its brand on the image of animals clawing and pecking each other to death. No, no, the more likely story is that some genius merchandising company with a wildly sophomoric sense of humor is at the heart of the naming effort. After all, everything … I mean, EVERYTHING … in the city of Columbia is one continuous stretch of innuendo through every bar, restaurant, and student hall. “@CockHockey” is simply the natural extension of that master plan.

VU Hockey Opens Season, Looks To Avoid Bad Friday The 13th Jujumagumbo

On this most ominous of days on the Gregorian calendar, Friday the 13th, the Vanderbilt Commodores Ice Hockey Club will head 441 miles east to open up its season against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks (@CockHockey) and Clemson Tigers (@ClemsonHockey). With three games on the schedule, two versus USC and one versus Clemson, the weekend should prove to be a stout test for the Commodores right out of the gate for the 2013/14 season.

“We barely split with Clemson last year and South Carolina handled us thoroughly, largely on the play of their goalie,” said junior defenseman Greg Kirk who is still sidelined with a foot injury he suffered in April’s I-65 Face-Off. “We’re fired up to play those types of teams though, we want to play games that are competitive.”

Fortunately, the club seems to be maintaining a pretty carefree perspective about the challenge.

“I’m thinking we kick things off with an ‘Old School Goalie Mask Night,'” said goalie Andrew “The Iceman” Keen. “You know, with it being Friday the 13th and all, let’s have a little fun with it.” It’s of course a terrible idea made all the more ill conceived by the fact that Andrew will be the only goalie making the trip (sophomore Riley Macdonald has been sidelined with a concussion and sophomore Bo Korpman will be staying in Nashville to tend to his ROTC responsibilities) but his teammates nevertheless appreciate their goalie keeping things loose.

Young Guns Lead The Way

The upcoming campaign will be marked by a youth movement in the player ranks with 14 new skaters in the lineup.

On the front lines, freshman John Longman (Shaker Heights, Ohio) will look to vie for the title of CSO – “Chief Sniping Officer” – alongside fellow freshmen Ketul Patel (Kendall Park, New Jersey), Stephen Wei (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Calen Leverant (Scottsdale, Arizona), and Tucker Rhodes (Needham, Massachusetts) plus sophomore transfer Matt Neurohr (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

Rhodes in particular gives new meaning to the expression “young guns” as he’s known to arrive at the rink wearing what one teammate Michael Hite describes as “1980’s Bruce Springsteen-inspired cutoff t-shirts,” a high compliment from the New Jersey native. Rhodes’s confidence should be a big asset for the club heading into the season.

Rookies tasked with securing the defensive zone will be freshmen Andrew Dellapina (Randolph, New Jersey), Nick Honkala (Englewood, Colorado), Ben Gallatin (Acton, Massachusetts), Zach Satin (Potomac, Massachusetts), and Eddie Meyercord (Princeton, New Jersey) along with sophomore transfer Bandar Alsaif (Great Falls, Virginia).

Veterans Providing The Foundation

The team will have a host of veterans returning for 2013/14 to help shepherd the flock of newbies. Senior Jack Delehey, the club’s president, will start the season on the disabled list following surgery to repair a torn meniscus but will look to deliver a spark upon return in October.

Anthony “The Dean” Bilotta, another senior, will split time at center and defense depending on the situation, opponent, and his mood on game day. Bilotta brings a physical style of play to games that the coaches love and count on.

“There are guys that love to hit, and then there’s Anthony,” described Coach Bernstein. “He really loves to hit […] and we’re certainly happy to green-light that passion. It’s a huge asset for the team especially when the boys are down and need a spark.”

The club will count on Junior Danny “Hoagie” Hogue, last year’s team MVP and leading scorer, and sophomore Jack “Fan Club” Gibbons to power the team on the scoreboard. They’ll also be counted on to light up Twitter with the wit and charm that fans of the program have grown to love and appreciate over the past year.

Follow The Team

You can follow all of the weekend’s scores and highlights from the comfort of your home, the basement of a fraternity party, or your floor seats at the Blake Shelton concert by staying tuned to Twitter (@VandyIceHockey) and Facebook. On behalf of the players, coaches, and parents, the club thanks all of its fans for their support heading into the new season. Can’t wait to get things kicked off … ANCHOR DOWN!