A NSU Ice Hockey Club could be starting up soon. The group has met much of the criteria to becoming a club on campus, but is currently awaiting final approval for the semester. Once approved, the club e-board seems ready and able to provide a thrilling new experience on campus.
Club president Madison Geller, a junior criminal justice major, said, “We want to make it as fun and friendly and available as possible for all levels.”
Much of the goals of the Ice Hockey Club comes from its inspiration. Geller and treasurer Brice Schrenkel, a second-year graduate student in the marine biology program, attended the Learn-To-Play program over the summer that was hosted by the Florida Panthers. The program seeks to let newcomers dip a toe in the (frozen) water and provide them with a basic set of hockey skills.
“We’re making jokes like ‘oh, we’re going to play for the NHL, we should play for colleges’ and ‘oh wait, we should start something at NSU’ and then it kind of just went from there,” said Geller.
Schrenkel echoed this sentiment. “We wanted something for [NSU] that had that kind of community and that kind of family feeling that we had through our favorite sport,” she said.
Both Schrenkel and Geller were recruited for the Ft. Lauderdale Lucky Pucks after the summer program. The Lucky Pucks describe themselves on their website as being “made up of women of ages ranging from 18 to 50+ years young” and having team members from all professions and skill levels.
On top of hosting fundraising events, Geller and Schrenkel have many ideas on what to do first once the final approval comes in.
Geller proposed tabling with a twist. “We wanted to make it fun so we may bring a hockey net and then synthetic ice and have people shoot around and have a good time,” she said.
Schrenkel expressed interest in “having a night on one of the ice rinks and invite as many people as possible, even if people aren’t interested in playing hockey. They can always come out and skate and have a good time.”
Both expressed a desire to get an all-NSU student team up and running as part of the club.
“We want to try to register it with the FWHL, which is the Florida Woman’s Hockey League,” said Geller, adding that “We have enough people for a full woman’s team right now and we’re trying to build that up and get a full men’s team.”
Not to go unmentioned, Geller said her favorite NHL team is the Pittsburg Penguins while Schrenkel said hers is the Florida Panthers.
For those interested, the Ice Hockey Club can be reached at their Instagram profile: @NSUIHC
