Our men’s Ice Hockey Team have one very important date on their annual calendar: and that is the Jonny Wookey Memorial Game. The game, held in memorium for past student Jonny Wookey, is “the most important game of the year” according to Nick Hauger, President and Captain.” Not only is it a chance to play in front of friends and family while enjoying a great atmosphere, but it’s a chance to remember two of our teammates who passed away. It definitely means a lot to the team and we look forward to it all year.”
The St Andrews Typhoons had a huge run-up to the game last Tuesday, being almost undefeated for the entire season so far. And, with Nick Haugher, forward Chase McCarthy, as well as defensemen Sebastian Grunebaum and Luke Thompson having been selected for the BUIHA International All Star Team in March. So when they rolled into the stadium amidst flashing lights and blaring music last Tuesday at Dundee Ice Arena, expectations were high.
The first goal made by Chase McCarthy set the majority St Andrews crowd ablaze, many of whom were dressed in the “white out” theme of many Canada and US professional playoff games. There was cheering, screaming, singing, drinks accidently splilling down people’s arms as they embrace their friends, harassment of the Edinburgh supporters. Every student and their weird friend who has never seen ice hockey before were going crazy in the way you see American college students going crazy for their football games in movies.
But sadly, although the Typhoons tried hard to battle it out against the University of Edinburgh Eagles, it was not to last, with the final score being a heart-breaking 4-8 to Edinburgh.”Overall it was not our best performance,” says Haugher. “To be fair to Edinburgh they played a great game. However, I think we fell short of what we know we are capable of. We will definitely use this as motivation for next year and I am confident we’ll return even better.” But the fans say different. On the whole, while the game may not have gone how we may have liked, the atmosphere, the excitement, and the great effort from the players made this Jonny Wookey Game just like the others – a great night on the sporting calendar.
So if you can’t wait to see this ‘self-proclaimed best looking team in the UK’ (a title Haugher is “confident” they hold ), then be sure to follow the team on Facebook to see upcoming games and events. Likewise, if you want to be a part of the team that just beat Oxford on Sunday 15th to become the first Scottish team to win the League Championship, then there’s a space for you. Haugher encourages, “We are close to having enough numbers to field a second team, and hopefully in a couple years we can enter them in the league. If anyone is interested in more information about the team feel free to message us on Facebook or send an email to icehockey@saints-sport.com”