The University of Wyoming hockey team is gearing up for its new season.
The University of Wyoming Men’s Hockey team will begin its season Sept. 29 at the Laramie Ice Arena against alumni from the club. The team’s league season begins the next weekend.
The alumni game is a tradition where past players come and play the current team, president Levi Wood said. The club then faces Colorado Mesa University on Oct. 5.
The club has tryouts and only a handful make the roster. “We tend to get around 40-45 guys show up for tryouts. Of those, only 30 make the roster,” Wood said. The American Collegiate Hockey Association only allows rosters of 30.
Tryouts were held in Cheyenne this year over the course of three days. Allen Morton, a new club member said tryouts were intense with a good pace.
Three days is a fair length of tryouts, and most guys can shake off the cobwebs of summer and get back into the swing of things, Wood said. These three-day tryouts allow everyone to get time to shine before the coaches finalize the roster. Since tryouts,eariler in September, the club has been commuting to Cheyenne for practices, and team members are excited for ice in Laramie and home games, Morton said
The team practices Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half. Wood said the team tries to get together and do training on off days as well.
Practices serve a dual purpose. Players work on improving their skills, but they also up the intensity with hopes of getting game time. Of the 30 that make the roster, only around 20 get to play each game, Morton said.
The club will not travel as much this year as it did in past seasons, but it will host 17 home games.
Though in past years the club traveled as far as California and Las Vegas for tournaments, the club will play in Wyoming and Colorado because it is its traveling off year. The club, which plays in the North-Central division, consists mainly of undergraduate students.
The weekend of Oct. 5 and 6 is a double header against Colorado Mesa University. The first game is at 8 p.m. on Oct. 5, the second game is at 7 p.m. on Oct. 6.
For a complete schedule and roster, visit the club’s website at uwyo.edu/uwyohockey.
