Author: Vanderbilt Hockey

Thoughts On Getting Blown Out Nine Hours From Home

During the 2008 presidential campaign, then Senator Barack Obama asserted that, in reference to Senator John McCain’s attempts to claim the mantle and mantra of change, “You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.” Fast forward to 2011 in an equally spirited battle, this time for the lead position in the Southeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference, the Vanderbilt hockey team found itself uttering similar sentiments following Saturday’s result versus the Razorbacks of Arkansas. “You can put lipstick on a 13-0 loss to the pigs. It’s still a 13-0 loss to the pigs.”

First, the lipstick.

Despite coinciding with the first day of Vanderbilt University’s final exam period, the team cobbled together a line-up of twelve skaters and a goalie that included seniors Brenden Oliver, Jack McCallum, Tom Trepanier, and Matt Kaminsky for the nine-hour trip to Springdale, Arkansas. Compared to the Commodores last game versus the Ice Hogs two years ago when five skaters and a goalie (notably Oliver, McCallum, and Trepanier) showed up three hours late for game time, the delta in commitment is something that everyone in the Vanderbilt hockey family should be proud of.

The Commodores can also hold their heads high about doing exactly that, holding their heads high, through the game’s final buzzer. With the exception of sophomore Connor Smallwood’s temporary displacement of reason, judgement, and sanity that resulted in a five-minute major and game misconduct ( … it was a benign but nevertheless blatant head-butt which, per ACHA rules, warrants the penalties that were rendered), the team demonstrated the two things it has preached all season: heart and class. Where other teams may have devolved into a UFC-like hackfest, Vanderbilt instead focused on getting that elusive first goal of the evening. While the attempts proved futile on a rough night in the heart of the rural South, the effort displayed will surely pay off down the road as the club continues to define, solidify, and build upon its foundation for success.

A las, it remains a pig.

Moral victories aside, it would be the definition of arrogance to expect to beat the two-time defending SECHC champions and #4-ranked team in the ACHA’s Southeastern region with a short bench and several top scorers left at home in Nashville. Simple as that. Moving forward, there is a heck of a lot the team can do to rally together and be more prepared for the challenges that remain on the horizon, most notably a weekend set versus Tennessee following winter break. The coaches can find new and innovative ways to install and establish more effective systems. The players can make sure they carve out time each week for practice and plan ahead for potential conflicts (e.g., exams, studying). The officers can schedule around known non-hockey events such as formals, bid night, and the like. And finally, we can all eat better before games.

Said freshman Harry Londoff, “I went to that Joe’s Italian Pizza and Pasta with the team with the good intention of carbo-loading, but that chicken parmigiana, it just looked too good.” The menu choice was apparently tasty going down, less so coming up. “I was sick as a dog,” said a flushed Londoff following the game. “Bad move, won’t happen again.” Senior captain Matt Kaminsky, demonstrating his upperclassmen savviness, knew better when he ordered “penne with a little olive oil, spinach, and tomatoes.” Per Matt, “It was the perfect pre-game meal.”

All The ‘Dores Want For Christmas Is …

A time machine to replay the game with hind sight wisdom in hand? A Men-In-Black mind eraser device? SECHC standings credit awarded for scoring well on the exams the boys endured on Saturday? Clearly, Santa will not be able to furnish any of these; instead, he’ll be stuffing stockings with the healing power of time and distance. Amen to that.

A VERY Important Note of Appreciation

The team has an incredible debt of gratitude to pay to Jack McCallum’s parents for covering the cost of the team’s charter bus for its trip. The luxury liner was a terrific way to ensure a safe and on-time arrival to the game, plus it offered players the opportunity to bond over their passion for things such as movies (e.g., Remember the Titans and Mystery, Alaska) and music (e.g., Skrillex … parents, divert your ears, it’s a nasty combination of nails-on-chalkboard beats and hyena-screeching). For their generosity above and beyond the call of duty, the club extends its most heartfelt thanks to Mr. and Mrs. McCallum.

Fin.

And so ends another installment of everyone’s favorite ongoing saga, “Iced is Better: Vanderbilt Hockey 2011/12.” Fear not fans and believers, your ‘Dores will be marching forward to better and brighter days. In the meantime, please be so kind as to look into the light to the right.

Giving Thanks On Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Wishes from Coach Bernstein

As another Thanksgiving holiday nears completion, I wanted to take a moment tonight to both extend my warmest holiday wishes to everyone in the Vanderbilt hockey family and also share with you the many things I remain thankful for in 2011. It continues to be my pleasure to coach, manage, and learn from our group, and because this is the season for sharing thoughts of appreciation with those that you respect I thought, “Why not proclaim our good tidings from the social media mountain tops … or at least VanderbiltHockey.com?” So here I sit in front of my computer ready to do exactly that. (Caution: Anything that follows that you find objectionable, whether it be on the basis of grammar, vulgarity, incoherence, or some combination of the three, can be blamed on my present tryptophan-enhanced state of moderate obesity. My mother- and father-in-law did tremendous work in the kitchen today … thanks Mr. and Mrs. B!)

In no particular order, …

I am thankful first and foremost for the players who have come out for the team this season. As you know, participation this year has been unprecedented with nearly 50 players initially showing interest in the program and approximately 40 committing to be a part of the club. Throughout the tryout period and into the heart of our season, you guys have continually demonstrated class and leadership beyond your years. Across the ranks of both the Vandy Black and Commodores squads, I want to thank you for making coaching this team such a pleasure.

I am thankful for the stars, moons, asteroids, comets, suns, blackholes, etc. conspiring and aligning in such a way that we’d have the pleasure of welcoming such a tremendously talented group of sophomore transfers to campus this fall. Eliot, Ben, Kyle, and Brad – it’s been great having you on the team and I look forward to a phenomenal rest of the season with you guys on the ice.

I am thankful for a large crew of sophomores and our resident senior citizen MBA getting wise to the virtues of Vanderbilt hockey and deciding to come out for the team after sitting out last year. Joey, Teddy, Connor, Jim, Mike, Henry, and Mr. Weekes – smart move boys, life is always better with a little hockey sprinkled in. I know I speak for the rest of the club when I say the experience is better for everyone with you guys in the mix.

I am thankful for the delightful musings of Mr. Cory Reno, (soon-to-be) Esq. Nothing more to say, the man is an inspiration.

I am thankful for the contributions of our parents, including (but by no means limited to) Mr. and Mrs. Oliver for supporting the team in a number of ways including a special surprise that they have in store for next semester, Mr. Kaminsky for taking part in said stealth undertaking, Mr. and Mrs. McCallum for covering the cost of the charter bus to Arkansas in two weeks, Mr. McCann for designing and printing helmet decals for our players, and the many others who have found ways to support what I call our “little boot-strapped start-up on ice.” You are the angel investors making this tremendous experience possible (keyword: angel) and words cannot express how much the boys and I appreciate your support.

I am thankful for Brenden Oliver’s generosity in not only committing so much time and effort to the team as a captain and the club’s president, but also for offering me tickets to the Country Music Awards as a thank-you-for-coaching gift, tickets which I in turn gave to my wife and her friend Katie. As many know, “Mrs. Coach” is the one who makes the real sacrifices on behalf of the club (e.g., Honey, would you object to my floating money on behalf of the team to cover the cost of the charter bus to South Carolina?; Beautiful wonderful darling soulmate, would you be so kind as to give me a pass on going to ____________‘s engagement party so I can go to Atlanta with the boys? It’s a critical weekend for us, we’ve got UGA and Florida …”) so your contribution was both appreciated and strategic. Nice work.

I am thankful for seniors Matt Kaminsky, Tom Trepanier, Brenden Oliver, and Jack McCallum who have shepherded the VU hockey flock through a terrific fall 2011. Gentlemen, you have stuck with a program that has always had a powerful spirit but perhaps not always the strength in organization. Now that we have the infrastructure in place to keep the club on the tracks and chugging along in a positive direction, it makes me incredibly proud to see you working to help the younger guys raise the bar for years to follow. I look forward to making the rest of the journey even more exciting for you four in particular.

I am thankful for Coach Gatlin’s brilliant directorial efforts filming, editing, and producing videos for our home weekend games versus Memphis and Georgia State. Ben, talk about efficiency in planning, you were smart enough to pick the two weekends where the boys scored 39 goals in 4 games, thereby yielding a season’s worth of highlights in less than 6 cumulative hours of shooting. You’ve heard this many, many times already but it needs to be said again: tremendous work, I know the players and their families appreciate your working to archive such enjoyable moments and memories.

I am thankful for Coach Ware’s efforts to make our game days feel more like game events. Rusty has set up the operating system for an outstanding fan experience, complete with welcome announcements, starting line-ups, music, and goal reports throughout the game. He has also brought on an intern, current Middle Tennessee State student Shane Clore who we’re thrilled to have aboard, to help raise the bar even further. Rusty, particularly for your BCP (Business Continuity Planning), the team and I cannot thank you enough for your efforts.

I am thankful for Coach Holston deciding to move to Nashville to both (1) work for our company edo Interactive and (2) coach hockey at Vanderbilt … and because of those decisions catching a bit of flack for each. On the work front, he has been subjected to being called “Holstein” on account of our working together so closely day-in and day-out (i.e., when we’re not white-boarding UI designs for the development of new and innovative marketing technology products we’re white-boarding drills and systems for the development of new and innovative hockey strategies). Couple that with the heat he felt upon leaving his official positions with the University of Alabama Frozen Tide program and we should all take a moment to thank Jonathan for the sacrifices he’s made to be a part of our club.

And finally, I am thankful for being a part of a team experience that far surpasses the many I’ve enjoyed in my life. Stacked up against pee wee in-house leagues and high school varsity teams, consulting engagements and technology start-ups, Vanderbilt hockey sets the bar amongst all of them for three simple reasons: (1) We have outstanding people across the club; (2) as a team, we know who we are, we know what we want out of the experience, and we know how to meet and exceed our expectations for having fun and competing at a high level; and finally (3) we “go big” wherever, whenever, and however possible.

I’ll conclude with a word about this third item and, in doing so, transition from feelings of appreciation to those of anticipation. To players, parents, fans, coaches, staff, administrators, and citizens of Nashvegas – I thank you all for your efforts to help us go big in 2011. We certainly did achieve “bigness” over the last 11 months when you consider all that we’ve enjoyed: the I-40 Face-Off, an awards ceremony, Senior Night (starring Anderson Funk), feature film documentaries, founding a second team for the club … the list goes on. That said, we cannot and will not rest on our laurels folks, not when there is hockey to be played, genos to be scored, championships to be won, and incredible hockey excitement to relish next semester and beyond. I thank you for your continued commitment to the organization and, on behalf of the boys in Black and Gold, wish you and your families a very happy Thanksgiving!

Photo credit: Follow @pucksandpixels on Twitter (https://twitter.com/pucksandpixels), the author of the awesome “Hockey Turkey” image featured above. They have some awesome t-shirts and apparel which you can check out here!

VU Hockey Celebrates Birthdays With Wins Over Louisville

After a work- and, if we’re being honest, loss-induced hiatus from game recapping (it was just too painful to relive the horrors of the club’s second trip to Atlanta which saw Vanderbilt lose 9-5 to Florida and 6-5 to Georgia), the VU hockey club writing staff is back in action and happy to report that the Commodores locked up their seventh and eighth wins of the season this past weekend, both versus Louisville, to improve to 8-2. Before spirited home crowds at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, TN, the club surmounted both on- and off-ice obstacles leading up to and through the weekend to secure a 6-2 win Friday and an 8-4 win Saturday versus its DII neighbor from the North.

Happy birthdays to senior Matt Kaminsky, junior Stephen Mozur, and sophomore Mike Gangemi

Pulling Together The Line-Up

A hard-working weekend started two days prior to Friday when the Commodores found themselves cobbling together their line-up amidst a handful of variables, the biggest being fraternity commitments. “Several of the boys were closing out pledging,” said senior captain Matt Kaminsky who, as a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, is sympathetic to the dilemma of juggling Greek life with hockey. “It’s part of our club’s culture and charter to support guys enjoying all sorts of clubs and experiences at Vandy. Recognizing this, we need players to step up when others are out of the line-up, in some cases for the first time in a specific position or on a certain line, and deliver the ‘W.’ Fortunately, our boys did just that with two solid performances.”

Leading the charge on Friday was a seemingly possessed sophomore winger Kyle Stachowiak. Prior to the weekend, “Gadget” (as fans and teammates call him) had logged a relatively quiet start to the season per his standards (i.e., his freshman campaign where he scored seven goals). That all changed Friday when Gadget netted two goals including the eventual game winner.

“He had another gear on Friday,” said head coach Thomas Bernstein. “It wasn’t just that he was faster than he normally is, which he was. Kyle was also extremely strong on the puck. They just couldn’t knock him off his game, whether he was crashing the net, cutting through the zone, or setting up his line-mates.”

Asked what sparked the breakout performance, Stachowiak offered a few theories. “I ate two spicy black bean burgers for dinner prior to the skate which delivered 34% of my daily protein requirement.” One of two vegetarians on the team, Stachowiak concluded that “this intense nourishment, combined with a last-minute viewing of the 1999 hockey classic ‘Mystery, Alaska’ starring Russell Crowe, just amped my freak meter up to 11. I was ready to rock.”

Rosenfield Wired and a “Geno” for Reno

Saturday’s game followed a similar script compared to Friday as the Cardinals jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. The Commodores recaptured the momentum on the shoulders of sophomore forward Eliot Rosenfield who rifled home his fourth goal of the year.

“That first goal they scored was a real shot to the jaw,” said Rosenfield. “We didn’t panic though, our guys pulled together and kept the pressure on for the full 60 minutes. That was a good hockey team we played out there so I think we can all be proud of the effort.”

Also leading the charge was first year law student and team gloomy gus Cory Reno. All totaled on the weekend, Reno tallied two “genos” and four “apples” for a total of six “pintos.” Asked to evaluate his performance, Reno answered with his trademark response, “Ehh.” He elaborated, “I kinda sucked. But not as much as the last few weeks.” Coach Bernstein disagreed with Reno’s personal assessment stating, “I gauge Cory’s play by the number of times I see him smile on the bench. I know it’s a good game when his number of smiles top our total goals scored, and I know it’s a really good game when they exceed our number of penalty minutes. On Saturday, Cory’s cheeriness was off the charts. Infectious positivity.”

Back In Action This Weekend

The Frozen Commodores will take the ice once again this weekend versus a winless Georgia State Panthers squad that is laboring through its program’s inaugural season. The teams will face-off at the Centennial Sportsplex at 10:15pm on Friday and 7:00pm on Saturday. Admission will be free for students and kids under 18 and $3 for adults. We hope to see you at the rink for a weekend of terrific hockey action as Vandy goes for double-digit wins in 2011/12!

Game Information
Date & Time: Friday, November 4th, 2011, at 10:15pm CT
Location: Centennial Sportsplex – Nashville, TN
Attendance: 140

1 2 3 F &#9733
Brenden Oliver (G): 37 saves
VU 4 1 1 6 &#9733&#9733
Kyle Stachowiak (LW): 2 goals
UL 1 0 1 2 &#9733&#9733&#9733
Ryan Blatt (D): Defensive standout
First Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
 VU: UL:
18:00 UL
Kuypers – Gettelfinger
 0 1
8:23 VU
Reno (3) – Zauderer, McCann
 1 1
8:02 VU
Zauderer (4) – McCann, Reno
 2 1
7:30 VU
Stachowiak (1) – Trepanier
 3 1
5:42 VU
Kaminsky (8) – Grisko
 4 1
Second Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
 VU: UL:
15:27 VU
McLaughlin (6) – Grisko
 5 1
Third Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
 VU: UL:
16:00 VU
Stachowiak (2) – Leeser
 6 1
9:03 UL
Van Holtz – Devido, Martinell
 6 2

Game Information
Date & Time: Saturday, November 5th, 2011, at 8:15pm CT
Location: Centennial Sportsplex – Nashville, TN
Attendance: 60

1 2 3 F &#9733
Mike Gangemi (G): 42 saves
VU 2 3 3 8 &#9733&#9733
Eliot Rosenfield (RW): 2 goals
UL 1 2 1 4 &#9733&#9733&#9733
Cory Reno (RW): 1 goal, 3 assists
First Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
 VU: UL:
7:29 UL
Shacklette – Swiergosz
 0 1
3:17 VU
Rosenfield (4) – Weekes, Stachowiak
 1 1
0:30 VU
Johnston (1) – Leeser
 2 1
Second Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
 VU: UL:
19:10 UL
Valvano – Van Holtz
 2 2
17:50 VU
Weekes (2) – Reno
 3 2
15:40 VU
Reno (4) – Kaminsky, McCann
 4 2
0:30 UL
Boyce – Van Holtz
 4 3
0:04 VU
Rosenfield (5) – Trepanier, Weekes
 5 3
Third Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
 VU: UL:
12:55 VU
Leeser (4) – Abelman, Johnston
 6 3
11:01 VU
Kaminsky (9) – Reno
 7 3
3:19 VU
McCann (4) – Kaminsky, Reno
 8 3
0:21 UL
Swiergosz – Martinell
 8 4



“Reflections” with VU Hockey Dad Tom Trepanier

“Reflections” is a column where Vanderbilt hockey parents answer a few questions about their sons, the season, and life in general. In doing so, the hope is to both light-heartedly embarrass the guys with a modern/online/viral version of their mothers giving them hugs at the elementary school bus stop, and also throw an emotional life-line to those parents who are beside themselves with boredom now that their kids are not playing hockey six days a week. For you carpool-driving-less hockey addict parents who love to make your kids squirm, “Reflections” is your nirvana.

This week’s “Reflections” submission comes from Tom Trepanier, father of senior assistant captain Tom Trepanier, Jr.




How would you describe Tom?

Tom is awesome. He is funny, energetic, thoughtful, smart and great to be around (unless you wake him up early on the weekend).




What do you miss most about watching Tom play hockey every week?

The camaraderie of the team and the parents. A guarantee of a fun Saturday night. The goals. The rivalry between John Jay and Arlington. I also miss all the way back to mite hockey- the 5 AM trips to the rink with him sitting next to me in hockey pants bigger than him! Pam and I will be at as many games as we can this year and we are looking forward to them.




What made Tom a good hockey player back in his high school days?

Hustle, guts, determination, team play and speed.




What kind of “Hockey Dad” are you?

A dad that loved coaching the boys through bantams (From Plymouth, Ma. to Baton Rouge, La,). Perhaps a BIT overly enthusiastic at the rink!




What is the thing you do as a Dad that embarrasses Tom the most?

Yelling ‘Go Treppy’ when the rink is otherwise silent. Many others that I am sure he can fill you in on.




Any suggestions or words of encouragement for the Vanderbilt hockey team heading into 2010/11?

You ‘Dores have a great team with class kids that also happen to be excellent hockey players. From ’08-’09 with six kids travelling to Arkansas to 15-3-1 and the I40 Challenge victory. This is the year you guys can take that momentum and smoke the SEC. Go VU Hockey!




* Note to parents: Interested in partaking in a future segment of “Reflections”? Don’t be a stranger, give us a holler at vuhockey@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!