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Wildcats excited for inaugural inline season A
By Alex Dodt
long summer of hard work and recruiting paid off for the University of Arizona’s inline hockey program last month as more than 30 play- ers tried out for spots on the Wildcats’ inaugural- season rosters.
Twelve skaters and two goaltenders were selected for each the Division I and B Division teams, which will compete in the Western Region of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Associa- tion this year.
“Tryouts went well in large part due to the Internet buzz we created about the program,” said coach Ryan Hubbard, whose teams start their seasons at a tournament in San Jose on Oct. 15-16. “Word of mouth helped us out a lot, too, and we were happy to see a lot more experienced players (try out) than we even expected.” The Wildcats are nothing but excited about their roster, which even includes a couple of play- ers from UA’s ice hockey team: forward Brian Slugocki and goaltender David Herman. Both are expected to be huge contributors for the inline squad as well. Kevin Corwin, of San Clemente, Calif., and Alex Wisniewski, of Sterling Heights, Mich., will be two of the team’s more experienced play- ers.
“We like our chances this year,” said team president and Division I goaltender Brian Gura. “We’re a very young team with speed and agility. If teams want to take a game from us, they better be prepared to sweat for every goal.”
One key to the team’s success will be the evolution of its freshmen five: Brandon Conrad, Jon Green, Austin Hale, Kevin Smith and Frank Zimmerman.
Four of the five come from the Inline Hockey Association of Arizona (IHAAZ) Division I high school league. Hale and Zimmerman won the IHAAZ state title over the summer with Brophy while Smith won it in 2010 with Horizon. Green was a top-line forward for Gila Ridge last season. “It’ll be interesting to see how we mature and come together,” said Smith, who also helps run the UA pro- gram. “We don’t have a single senior this year on D-I, so this team will be together for a long time, which is really exciting.”
The Wildcats’ Division I squad will feature two other
“Part of those expectations is to show fans, future players and other teams that they’ll be competi- tive and skate with any team.”
Held last month at the Tucson Indoor Sports Center, tryouts for the University of Arizona’s first-ever roller teams attracted top talent, lo- cally and beyond.
players with local inline backgrounds; forward Dane Miller played for the Rollerplex Panthers while defenseman Kyle Wilson skated for the Tour Outcasts.
Three more out-of-state additions round out the inaugural Wildcats’ Division I team: Sam Svoboda, from Chicago; St. Louis native Kody Babb; and Karl Naaf, of Elgin, Ill.
“The D-I team has high expectations and this is a group that learns quickly,” said Hubbard.
With excitement brimming for their inaugu- ral campaign, Smith and the Wildcats have one particular date circled on their schedule: Oct. 30. On that Sunday at the Tucson Indoor Sports Center, UA will host Arizona State in the first-ever game between the two schools which will also mark the first official game between two Arizona colleges in the sport’s history. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere here in Tuc- son; we know we’re going to pack the place,” said Smith. “People here hate ASU and love hockey so it’s going to be great to open up the year against one of the best teams in the country.”
With expectations high for
the D-I team, the Wildcats’ B division squad also has high hopes for its inaugural season. The team will be led by goaltender Kirk
Dunn, an IHAAZ all-state selection last year as a high school senior at Gila Ridge, and forward Ryan Nava, who also serves as the program’s treasurer.
Matt Coope, a 2011 IHAAZ Division I state champion with Brophy High School, is also ex- pected to be a leader for the team.
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