Opinion: Many teams and schools try to claim to be the face of the university, but nobody captures the campus like the ones in skates. Catch their home games before they start selling out.
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The campus is finally alive and bustling again to begin the year. Classrooms are filling, The Rec is moving, and the beating heart of the university is thumping. No, not the poster sales on East 13th Avenue, not the bikes with missing wheels and locks and definitely not the gum under the Columbia 150 seats.
The Oregon Ducks Hockey team is playing again.
The Pac-8 proved too easy for the five-time winners, and I’ve heard rumors the team was actually part of the reason USC decided to run from the conference, hiding from a trip to Eugene to play the boys in green. With the season beginning after the program’s promotion to the top flight of collegiate hockey (the NCAA is corrupt and void, anyway), it’s time the elephant in the room is addressed and hip-checked.
The University of Oregon is a hockey school.
Ignore our 10-time Pac-12 championship-winning track team, our two-time national championship-contending football team and our repeated March Madness runs by our basketball teams. For all their accolades, I’ve never seen any of these programs travel to Bend, Oregon, and grind out a result in the elements of the Outdoor Classic.
We’re not an academic school, either. Writers from our School of Journalism and Communication have only done that Pulitzer Prize thing 20 times, and that’s since 1962. My money is on Dayton Clarke to outscore the Pulitzer winners in just this season alone.
Our School of Law was ranked first in the state for legal research and writing, but that’s pretty boring, honestly. A courthouse would never have the atmosphere of a packed Eugene Rink Exchange on any given night.
The business school is one of 1.4% of business schools that the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accredits for business and accounting, but that’s a mouthful; therefore, who cares. Do you know what isn’t a mouthful? American Collegiate Hockey Association Division Ⅰ Oregon Ducks, now that’s a real association. I’d bet the AACSB has 1.4% of the fan attendance the ACHA has, or whatever they mean by that percentage. I don’t take math classes here- they mess with my ice time.
Every year I pray the Willamette freezes over so I can start a pickup game on it. Rumor was the only reason the city of Eugene ever got around to repaving the streets around Patterson Street was to allow more space for street hockey. I’ve never seen a more competitive tournament of sport than the UO intramural indoor hockey playoffs; every team automatically competes because everyone here is just that good at hockey.
“Well I’ve basically been an Oregon hockey fan since birth,” fourth-year Connor Patrick said. “Growing up around here everyone lives and breathes UO hockey. I think if we ever won a national championship, I’d name my firstborn after whoever scores the winning goal.”
I went to campus and asked students to name their favorite thing about attending the university. The only caveat was their answer couldn’t be hockey or watching the hockey team. Many walked by me confused, but eventually, fourth-year Trevor Scannell stayed to answer the question. “I mean, Fat Shack on 13th is nice, I guess,” he said. “Actually, speaking of, do you know when the next home game is?”
Even with the combined dedication to this sport, sometimes games just get away from us. In spite of two gutsy performances, the Ducks started the season 0-2 after a double-header with Arizona State. The crowd at the Rink Exchange was electric, and the boys were grinding, it just happened that neither game was ours. Don’t mistake my nonchalance for lack of grief; I did cry myself to sleep both nights.
Even with a less-than-ideal start, there is still plenty of energy backing this team. “As a proud follower of the UO hockey account since a few months ago, I’m devastated with the start to this season,” fourth-year Ellie Johnson said. “Though this roster is full of Crosby-level talent, and I know my $5 ticket will be worth it when I finally get to a game.”
While the entirety of the Eugene community had reason to be a bit disheartened at the time, the team should know the city and university are still dedicated and fervent to see them back on home ice. This team is new to this level, only had a few practices together before their first games, and will only get better the more they adjust to division one and play together. This is evident with a get-right sweep of Colorado last weekend to even our record at 2-2. So when they heat up, you better show out to the Rink Exchange.
