Lanterns Will Be Lighting Up This Winter As Southern Brooklyn Has A New Hockey Team
Brooklyn got its first taste of the hard-hitting sport of ice hockey last year when the New York Islanders came to town, and brought Kings County to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This season, another team will be playing for southern Brooklyn — the New York Aviators.
The Aviators is a junior hockey team in the elite division of the US Premier Hockey League, and is comprised of some of the best junior-level hockey players from around the continent. They play out of, and are owned by, Aviator Sports & Events Center at 3159 Flatbush Ave. Their inaugural season started last Saturday with a 7-3 loss to the Jersey Hitmen.
It was a rough start to the new season, but the main goal for the team goes beyond winning — each of the 22 players, whose ages range from 16 to 19 years old, has their future career in mind when they’re on the ice.
“My job is basically to bring them in, make them better players on the ice, and make them better people off the ice,” coach Jeremy Meehan told the Brooklyn Daily. “It’s really a high-end program. Our job is to promote them on to different schools. It’s the fastest way to be seen by colleges.”
These players are the future of hockey. Most will go on to play in college, some may even play in the NHL one day. But before all of that, you can see them in their formidable years while they represent southern Brooklyn throughout the country.
“Exposure is everything for a player, for the team, for everyone,” forward and Massachusetts native Cam Lanier told the Brooklyn Daily. “That’s what we’re all striving to do is move on to the next level, so that’s the biggest part of it.”
Meehan began recruiting players in June. He attended hockey showcases across the nation to find the best young players and sell Brooklyn to them. Players started to sign up, and began training together over Labor Day weekend.
The players who aren’t from New York are staying with families in Brooklyn and Long Island, and are slowly but surely getting adjusted to the New York lifestyle — a serious culture shock for some of the players.
“I’d say that the guys being here for two weeks now, they’ve really been able to adjust,” Chris Werstine, the team’s director of ice operations told the Brooklyn Daily. “We get some questions, like this is just a different world. But it’s going really great.”
The season started with two losses, but the team still hopes to compete while building comfort and culture around the team. They’re on the road until Saturday, October 8, when they play the Islanders Hockey Club (not the NHL team) at home.
Aviator Sports & Events holds a myriad of classes an events for people of all ages on and off ice. Earlier this year, we took a look at their synchronized skating team, and it’s worth taking another look at, because those girls are amazing.
By they way, tickets to their games are free. So, round up the family and bring them to the rink for some good old hockey fun this season.
So, can we make it official? Is Brooklyn now a hockey town?