University of Tennessee Ice Vols are making club hockey fun, but also forming lasting connections in the community
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (BVM) ⎯ Knoxville, Tennessee has been a mecca for many sports from a powerhouse Tennessee football team in the 80’s and 90’s to an insanely dominant women’s basketball team with Pat Summit at the helm. Now Knoxville is producing some high level hockey talent and great community ties within the confines of the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum.
The University of Tennessee’s club hockey team, the Ice Vols, have been a staple in Knoxville since 1966 and is actually the oldest SouthEastern Conference club hockey program. Being in the loop of the Knoxville sports realm for so long, the team is bound to start having an impact on the people in and around the program and town.
Kensi Juszkiewicz, the general manager for the team, has been involved for three short years but has seen the impact of this program continue to grow.
“I think it’s really nice. We do a lot of outreach with local businesses and local nonprofits,” Juszkiewicz said. “So it’s kind of nice to form those connections…just get Knoxville which is not necessarily, like a huge hockey town into hockey.”
To that same point, Danielle Dinenna, the teams rink-side reporter of two years, brought up that the community surrounding the team is all inclusive.
“There’s a lot of connections that come out of the organization, whether it’s on the ice connections or off the ice connections. It’s a community in itself that welcomes everyone,” said Dinenna.
One can really see the impact the team has on the community in their weekend games. Most Friday nights there will be a Knoxville Ice Bears game prior to the start of the Ice Vols games and a good chunk of the fans from the Ice Bears games will stay for the Vols games, even though they typically start no earlier than 10:30 p.m.
Hannah Sutton, who has also worked for the team for three years working on the inside as the internal communications manager, mentioned just how far the team’s name has gone from past to present.
“I also think it’s nice to see over the years of being on the team that people you’ve talked to in the past or more recently,” Sutton said. “Our name has definitely gotten out there and more people are able to know about us and come out to the games.”
As mentioned earlier, Knoxville is not what one would call a hockey town, despite the Southern Professional Hockey League team winning the championship four years in a row. In fact, the only rink that has full boards and glass aside from the Coliseum is not even in Knoxville. It is a 20-30 minute drive outside of the city limits to the small town of Farragut.
The rink in Farragut is home to all levels of hockey and figure skating which utilize the one ice surface there. The Ice Vols have played home games at this facility and use it as the grounds for their training camp in the offseason.
Almost one month ago the team headed down to Florida to take on the University of Florida Gators. After a hard fought overtime winner on the final day of the trip, there were numerous kids that had stuck around after the game to get pictures and ask for autographs from the players on the Ice Vols. Several of the players gladly took pictures with the kids, essentially turning them into Vol fans for life.
With the team’s growth and success over the last couple of years, it is fair to say that it is a great environment and place to gain experience in just about anything.
“My favorite thing is, I think getting opportunities that other clubs probably don’t get like travelling [with the team] or even just being able to play in the [Knoxville] Civic Auditorium. It’s a pretty cool place to work,” Sutton said.
The club not only impacts the community outside, but it impacts the internal one with all of the people who are playing and all of the game day staff.
“Most of everyone who is a part of the club, we’re all friends,” Juszkiewicz said. “We all see each other on campus and hang out and go get lunch and stuff. So, just being able to kind of do something bigger with just a large group of friends is really cool.”
Drew King, the captain of the team, as well as several other players including but not limited to: Nick Carline, Kieran Ogle, EJ Paulhardt and Brandon Shaw, are making club hockey fun to watch. The team as a whole is fun to watch and that goes a long way when trying to make connections with people outside of the organization.
The Ice Vols hit the road this weekend taking on Auburn at 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 22 and at noon on Oct. 23, which can be streamed on the teams YouTube account, Tennessee Ice Vols.
24 hours later and we are still thinking about this goal🤩#HockeyTop pic.twitter.com/VCJhQcjEsp
— Tennessee Hockey (@IceVolsHockey) September 27, 2021
