UF Club Hockey Overcomes Distance to Chase Success
Some SEC club hockey teams get the luxury of having a small walk to their arena, like Georgia and Tennessee, which have less than a five-minute ride to their home barn.
For other club teams in the SEC, like Florida, it’s more of a journey to their arena. Instead of their five minute drive, the Gators have an hour and a half commute to the Community First Igloo in Jacksonville — the closest rink to the University of Florida. A team that won the AAU Division II National Championship in 2024 has to ship out to Jacksonville anytime they want to get on the ice.
“It really sucks,” forward Brian Pine said, “but hockey is a sport I’ve been playing my entire life. It’s something I do not want to give up on.”
Pine is a freshman at UF. From Parkland, Florida, he knew about the trek to Jacksonville for home ice. However, it did not deter him when choosing where to play at the next level.
“For me, putting the puck into the back of the net was the best feeling ever,” he said. “I love skating around. I love getting on the ice with all my friends.”
A typical week for the team consists of one practice per week and a trip to wherever they play for the weekend. The Gators practice Tuesdays, arriving at 9:45 p.m. After practice ends at 11:15 p.m., the day is only halfway done. Pine says the team gets back from practice around 2 a.m.
Head coach Frank Pasquale said that they struggle to retain and find talent because of the commute. He also said that if there was a rink closer, it could transform the program.
“Just the feeling that players might have a rink where they can keep their gear there and a place where they can work out,” Pasquale said. “It would move our program to another level.”
Third-year defenseman Noah Horwitz, the captain of the team, recalls the time before they had home in Jacksonville. Originally, they had to travel even further to Tampa. While he likes the closer arena, the drive is still a long one.
“It’s pretty brutal,” Horwitz said. “It’s sometimes discouraging, but like any athlete, you just got to persevere through some tough times.”
Compared to other SEC club hockey teams, UF is not the only one with a rough drive. Alabama drives to practice in Pelham, Alabama — roughly 50 minutes away. Auburn has to cross state lines during a 40-minute drive, playing their games in Columbus, Georgia. Ole Miss is also in the same boat as Auburn. The nearest ice rink is an hour out from them, nearly driving to Memphis for their ice time.
For these schools, there have been strides to bring a barn closer to their city. Fans in Tuscaloosa created a GoFundMe page in 2023 to help raise the money for them to move closer. However, the page has shut down and they still make their trek to Pelham.
For many people, the hour and a half drive is offputting. UF knows it too. However, building an ice facility is very difficult — especially in North Florida.
Money plays an important factor when developing an ice rink. Not only would a club team need the funding to build an ice rink, it would also need to have a staff to maintain the ice and operate the facility.
The price tag for this would be the biggest outlier. Athens, Georgia invested in a new arena to attract a minor league hockey team, the Athens Rock Lobsters. Not only was it for the Rock Lobsters, the 5,500-seat arena is used by the University of Georgia club hockey team. The cost for the arena was over $150 million just to build the arena, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
However, the Gators don’t play in an arena for their home games. They practice and play at a community ice hockey rink. To look at one that was recently built, the Florida Panthers completed construction on a $65 million community ice facility in 2024.
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward says a rink or facility in Gainesville isn’t a good way to spend money.
“The idea of spending tens or perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars to create an ice facility in Gainesville, Florida,” he said,” does not seem like a good economic path for the community.”
While the idea of a rink in Gainesville may sound farfetched, the idea comes from the recent success of the Florida pro hockey teams. In the NHL, a Florida team has represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final for the last six years.
The Tampa Bay Lightning started the streak in 2020 with a Stanley Cup Final win over the Dallas Stars. They then rolled to the 2021 cup Final in a gentleman’s sweep over the Montreal Canadiens. The Bolts then lost to the Colorado Avalanche the year after in six games.
Then, it was time for the Panthers to dominate for the state of Florida. They lost in 2023 to the Vegas Golden Knights, but won back-to-back cups in 2024 and 2025 over the Edmonton Oilers.
This isn’t the only success from the state of Florida. The Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League had a run of four straight Kelly Cup Finals appearances. They three-peated from 2022-2024 and had the chance to win again in 2025. However, they lost in the Cup Final to Trois-Rivières in six games.
The success is helping to inspire the next generation of players — including the ones in the orange and blue.
While a rink in Gainesville may not be coming anytime soon, their love for the game still grows strong even without home ice. The UF team will still make the trip out to Jacksonville to give back to the fastest game on ice.
“If somebody were to come to our game, point at me on the ice and said I want to be more like him,” Horwitz said, “that’s exactly what would make this all worth it.”
Category: Hockey
