Men's hockey travels to England, scores eight goals in three games

When most people think of athletics in England, soccer — or football, as it is called there — and rugby generally come to mind. Maybe cricket, or even golf and tennis. But certainly not ice hockey.

The men's hockey team's trip across the pond to play three English professional teams over break showed not only that the English play hockey, but also that they play it rather well.

Princeton (3-14-0 overall, 1-9-0 Eastern Coast Athletic Conference) played against three of England's best — the Cardiff Devils and Guildford Flames of the British National Ice Hockey League and the Nottingham Panthers of the British Super League — in the week preceding Christmas, dropping the three games by a combined score of 16-8.

Though most people might be surprised to hear that the British play hockey, it was an Englishmen in Kingston Harbour, Ontario, who invented the game in 1860, first using a puck instead of a ball on the ice.

In 1903 hockey found its way to England, where the first league — it was composed of five-teams — was founded. The first European Championship was won by Great Britain in 1910, which also took the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics. Today, Great Britain has all but disappeared from among the world's best in ice hockey, yet the game still thrives among the country's diehards.

"I think the team was unsure what to expect when we traveled over there because no one really knew what the hockey was like over there, but I think everyone came away a little surprised and impressed by how big hockey actually is in England," junior forward Chris Owen said. "You can see that there is an interest in sports other than soccer."

The English play on the larger Olympic-sized ice surface, both wider and longer than the North American brand on which Princeton is accustomed to playing. The European game demands that teams play with speed and maintain puck possession, while reducing the game's physicality and rewarding those who utilize open ice.

"There is a lot of open ice in the big rinks so defensively you have to be aware of where the opponents are or else you will give up a lot of breakaways," Owen said. "Offensively, you learn to find open ice to receive passes."

Princeton first found itself paired against the Nottingham GMB Panthers of the British Super League — England's premier hockey league — Dec. 15 in a match dubbed "The International Challenge Match."

Princeton opened the scoring off freshman forward Dustin Sproat's tally just a minute into the game, yet ultimately found itself down, 4-2, heading into the third. The Tigers eventually lost the opener, 5-2, against one of Britain's best.

"These players differed from the college teams we play in the ECAC in that there were many older players, some in their early thirties even, who play a more open style of hockey with less contact and a more developed transition game," captain George Parros said. "It was tough to defend against their highly skilled offenses because they knew how to exploit the larger ice surfaces better than we did."

Freshman goalie Eric Leroux, who made 36 saves in the contest, was named Player of the Game for his efforts in front of a crowd of 4,000, just half the number the Panthers usually play in front of.

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Princeton came back after the opening night loss to give the Guildford Flames of the second-tier British National League a run for their money Dec. 19 in Surrey, England. The Tigers found themselves up 3-2 in the third period off Owen's power play tally, yet ultimately lost the game, 4-3. The Flames scored on sophomore goalie Trevor Clay with three minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the contest to even the game, then scored the game-winner with just 23 seconds on the clock.

In the final contest of the trip, Princeton squared off against the Cardiff Devils, also of the British National League, dropping the contest, 7-3.

Despite the losses, Princeton gained an edge on the trip by being able to develop their play on the larger ice surface.

"Playing the European style of hockey for a week actually helped out our offense greatly," Parros said. "We had struggled in the offensive zone before going overseas because we lacked confidence and patience around the net. With the big Olympic sheets of ice, however, we were afforded much more time with the puck in-zone and were able to get some points on the board."

The improvement showed when the Tigers returned to competition in the U.S. After dropping the opening game of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Tournament to Wayne State, Princeton defeated host RPI in the consolation game, 4-3.

The Tigers notched their first victory of the season against RPI in Baker Rink Nov. 16. Clay made 41 saves in the Tigers' second victory of the season, with sophomore forward Mike Patton notching the game-winner, a shorthanded goal. Princeton then finished its break Friday night against No. 9 Ohio State, playing a tight, disciplined game despite losing 4-0.

The Tigers have 12 games remaining on their schedule, all ECAC contests. They next play at Brown Jan. 10.