No, it’s not a typo.
The Oregon club ice hockey team will open the 2007-2008 season on Friday, Oct. 5 in – of all places – Tempe, Ariz. For the team and its coach, though, the juxtaposition is nothing new.
“We get kind of used to facing opponents when it’s hot outside because in Southern California it’s the same down there,” said head coach Scott McCallum. “You’re walking around in shorts all day and you go play at night and strap on the gear.”
The Ducks’ first chance to perform in front of the home crowd will be on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m., against Washington State. The Ducks will host UCLA the next night at the same time. All home games are played at the Lane County Ice Arena, located at the Lane County Fairgrounds.
With the season opener only two weeks into school, hockey coordinator Jeff Gibb and head coach Scott McCallum hosted tryouts during the entire first week of school, putting the final squad of 26 players together last Friday.
Four Ducks made all-conference teams last year, of whom three will return this season. Those three, Gibb, forward Eric Steinmann and Matt Lutsch, will be key cogs in this year’s attack.
“This year I want to believe right now this is the best skilled team through and through that we’ve had,” McCallum said.
Adding to the team’s usual offensive strength is a much-improved defense, one that “struggled” last year, according to McCallum. The depth of the defense runs through all three lines.
“This year is definitely a more consistent lineup offensively and defensively,” said Gibb, a junior defenseman.
The team is no stranger to success on the ice under McCallum. In 2004-2005, the coach’s first season, the Ducks won the PAC-8 Conference championship. In both 2005 and 2006, the Ducks were runners-up in the conference championship game to USC in overtime. In the past three years, the Ducks’ record is 52-12-2, a .787 winning percentage.
While Gibb attributes the team’s consistency to good coaching, McCallum believes it’s the team’s successful recruiting. Ken Gibb, Jeff’s father, is the head of recruiting for the program, which draws heavily on players attracted to Oregon’s big-school atmosphere and West Coast location. The Ducks’ performance has even drawn the attention of players in the Midwest, hockey’s breeding ground.
“I get kids e-mailing me when they’re like sophomores and freshmen in high school, it’s crazy. I never thought for a club team that this kind of stuff would happen,” said McCallum, a teacher in the Eugene School District. “I get these e-mails that are like, ‘Hey I’m from Wisconsin and I really want to play for you.’
“It kind of blows me away, these kids from hockey states want to come out west and play at Oregon.”
Oregon’s hockey team is one of Club Sports’ most organized and demanding. As a club last year, the team raised more than $12,000 to cover the costs of transportation, equipment and other needs. Each player must pay more than $2,000 to play.
The Ducks also have one of the longest schedules of any sport on campus, club or varsity, beginning in October and ending in February, with the possibility of even playing in March.
This year’s schedule will certainly test their preseason confidence, with non-conference road trips to Eastern Washington, Colorado State, Colorado and Denver. Eastern Washington and Colorado State finished last season third and fourth in the nation in Division II of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, which the Pac-8 and Oregon are parts of.
Oregon will also go on the road against USC, a team the Ducks have long despised. So how bad do the Ducks want to beat the Trojans this year?
“More than I can explain in words,” laughed McCallum. “I think this is going to be our revenge year, I’d like to just sweep them all the way through.”
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