Texas A&M
The Battalion Sports
Thursday, April 21, 1983/The Battalion/Page 9
h
ticks and ice
Texas A&M hockey team overcomes
musual problems to survive season
by John Wagner
Sports Editor
I Tom Dobrez throws his head back and laughs.
M stories? He has a few. In an unmistakably
[orthern accent — he’s from a town close to Chi-
Ego — Dobrez offers up a netful of anecdotes
pat would make your head spin. Or your ice melt,
| this case.
J Dobrez is the only senior member on Texas
l&M’s ice hockey team — a team that wound up
Is inaugural season in March against the Austin
Uitols. It wasn’t easy, but the Aggies managed
bplay eight games — and win five of them — in a
pson beset with difficulties from the very begin-
P-
Anyone who is determined enough to play
fefkey at a school like Texas A&M is bound to
me; some kind of anecdote — some type of war
pry—to tell. A&M is a university that loves its
[otball. The students wear shorts in February,
linters come and go, with no sign whatsoever of
lewhite stuff. To Aggies, icing is something you
111 on a cake.
It is not the kind of place you start a hockey
am.
put somebody did. And, as Dobrez and the
[her members of the team will tell you, things
piked out just fine.
[That somebody was Steve Mathiason, the
pm’s first president. After several members of
Texas A&M lacrosse team sat down to discuss
? “good old days” up North, the idea of an
feie Hockey team was born. Dobrez calls
gjjhiason’s plan “a brainchild.”
thinking of it was the easy part. And
[thering up enough experienced players to field
earn wasn’t too difficult, either. The tough part
pe when the team had to actually play.
[To begin with, the Bryan/College Station area
pn’t even have an ice rink. The Aggies began
ptice this season using the Sharpstown Ice
enter in Houston — a two-hour drive away — as
jeir home rink. But a single stroke of ill-timed
ihtning put an end to that plan, hitting the
[nerator at Sharpstown and melting the ice. The
nk has still not reopened.
But another rink did. After the Aggies traveled
[New Orleans to play two games against Tulane
Bey won one and lost one), Spenco International
] Waco opened its doors. The opening night
iraction? SMU vs. Texas A&M in an intercolle-
Re hockey match.
Dobrez says it was a night he’ll never forget.
|“Because of all the things we’d run in to,” Dob-
zsays, “we really didn’t get too keyed up, as far
[expecting too much (from the rink). But it was
Ipressive.
|We went into the locker room to get dressed,
Id when we walked out, there was a deafening
Bf. There were 550 people there, and I’m not
pggerating. The reception we got was so spon-
peous and so incredible the whole team was just
| awe.
“And not only were there Corps people there,
not only were there regular Aggies, but there
were old Ags too. And they were there to watch
Texas A&M play hockey.
“They were coming up to us and saying ‘we
didn’t know you had a hockey team.’ And we were
saying ‘we really didn’t, either.’”
The Aggies finished out the season with two
games against North Texas State, one game
against the Austin Saints, and the season-finale
against the Capitols.
Finding a place to play wasn’t the only problem,
however. There were little problems (finding a
place to buy sticks) as well as big problems (paying
for ice time). Both were nagging, to say the least.
“Ice time,” Dobrez says, “is very expensive
(approximately $100 an hour at most rinks). So
our primary concern was paying for the ice. We
would’ve slept in the car if we had to, but we
wanted that ice time. We were a bunch of hockey
players who just wanted to play.”
But hockey players need sticks to play. And one
stick usually lasts only one, maybe two games — if
you’re lucky.
“If you walk into a pro shop in a city like Chica
go — some place up North — there’ll be sticks
everywhere,” Dobrez said. “And when you walk in
there’ll be maybe a 100 sticks to choose from —
that many sticks displayed.
“Wheras down here there’s like nine, and
there’s only two dif ferent kinds. It’s either this one
or that one. You walk in and you take whatever
you can get.
“You grow up using a brand of stick, and you
just don’t want to change. A stick is a very vital,
important piece of equipment — it’s like a baseball
player’s mitt.
“So one time one of the players’ father was
coming down from Minnesota, and he called up
his dad with an order of sticks. The dad was com
ing anyway, so he drove down with a good amount
of sticks. Everybody put in their personal order.”
Another problem licked.
But practicing was another story. The Aggies
tried working out in DeWare Fieldhouse, but the
results weren’t encouraging. It might have helped
if DeWare had ice.
“Hockey is not so much a question of having
strategy,” Dobrez said, “as much as knowing the
guy next to you — how fast he can skate, how he
can catch the pass, does he pass, or does he shoot a
lot. And every week we would have no practice.
That was our problem — we never had any prac
tices. We were lucky enough just to get games, let
alone practice.
“This team now has some individuals who
sparkle on ice, and you could tell by the way our
team progressed that we were getting to know
each other. Our fourth game was probably only
the fifth time we had skated together.”
Gordie Anderson is one of those sparklers Dob-
See HOCKEY page 10
INTRODUCES
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We believe that Aggies are still the best people around
and we applaud Jackie Sherrill for helping to restore
those traditions which place A&M far above all other
universities and bring out the true meaning of
“Aggieland”.
We are giving you the chance to show what kind of
person and Aggie you are. ... All you have to do is give
the pizza express delivery person a compliment and
you may use the 500 off coupon (in addition to)
any other coupon you may have)
JUDGEMENT OF COMPLIMENTS WILL BE LEFT UP
TO YOUR SPECIFIC DELIVERY PERSON.
PIZZA DELIVERIES
NEED LOVE TOO!
Above, action from SMU game. Below, hockey team’s Joe Anderson and Todd Steinweg, goalie Blair Oliver
most valuable players. From left to right, defensemen and forwards Gordie Anderson and Tom Dobrez.
Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity
{Announces Their Seventh Annuall
FIGHT NIGHT
Friday, April 22 & Saturday, April 23
Brazos County Pavillion
(East Bypass at Tabor Rd.)
Boxing between Dorms — Corps — Fraternities —
Student Organizations — TAMU Students
Plenty of Food & Beer Available
Admission: Tickets available at: Rother’s Book-
$ 3 00 presale store, Texas Aggie Bookstore, Tri
$400 g a te State Sporting Goods & Suds
FIGHT TIMES:
Fri. Apr. 22
Sat. Apr. 23
Sat. Apr. 23
6 p.m.-Midnight
12 noon-5 p.m.
6 p.m.-Midnight
Preliminary Bouts
Semi-finals
FINALS
Admission FREE at this time.
-m