“I hope that this year we have big turnouts at every game. The students may not realize but to the players it is a big motivation and helps determine how we will perform that night,” junior Dylan Torey said.
“Last year it just seemed like no one went, I felt bad for the team because they went from a huge fan support to a dwindling amount.” O’Brien said. Junior hockey player Dylan Torey agreed. “Our fan support last year could have been better. The only games we really had good support was the Hamden game opener and the playoffs.”
The more the administration pushes the students away from the games, the less support the team is getting which could be detrimental to their performance on the ice. If parents are offended by the student’s behavior, than they don’t have to sit so close or in the student section. Honestly, it is a high school hockey game, besides the parents of the team members; the event isn’t designed for adults.
After all, it is still sporting event, no one can expect silence or perfect behavior; the competitive nature is just part of the game. Hopefully this year’s senior class will ignite the rest of the school to attend the games, O’Brien said, “I know that a big influence on whether there is a huge fan turnout is the senior class, and I think that we will bring the hockey games back to what they used to be.”
Hopefully this will be true, so the talented hockey team gets the fan support they deserve. “The team is looking very strong this year our work ethic is exceptional,” Torey said. With such a great team this year, students should be excited to be able to watch and support the talent on the ice. “I hope that this year we have big turnouts at every game. The students may not realize but to the players it is a big motivation and helps determine how we will perform that night,” Torey said.
This year everyone should rally together to support one of DHS’s best teams while also having a great time.
Blue Wave Pride Skating on Thin Ice
Look at the DHS Boys Hockey Team
By Kathryn Saulitis - 10/01
NEIRAD enilno edition
Going to a DHS hockey game was once a regular event. Walking into the frigid stadium visitors expected to see the bleachers packed to capacity with students. Two years ago it used to be hard to even find enough room to comfortably stand. Forget about sitting down between periods. No matter if it were a freshman or a senior, they all rallied together to support the boys’ varsity hockey team.
But ever since the infamous Darien vs. New Canaan FCIAC game in March of 2008, the flame that was lit with Blue Wave Pride seems to have died down to a mere glow. At that game, the rivalry between the two towns, in the schools opinion, was taken too far. Fights broke out between fans from both towns, leading to seven arrests. Even though the seniors were only sophomores when it happened, and the juniors were freshman, the whole school is still living in the aftermath of the punishment from the event. Now Darien New Canaan hockey games can only be played in the afternoons, regardless of it is as post season or just a regular season game.
“I remember hockey games being something you knew you’d see the entire school at, there was no other DHS sport where it was like that,” senior Paige O’Brien said.
Last year, with a combination of the New Canaan night game rule, and increased patrol -- or what some students call “babysitting” -- the games are not the exciting events students eagerly vied to attend. Now if one kid acts a little too rowdy or speaks out of line for even one second, they have a “narc” or faculty member threatening to kick them out.
Yes, it may be a high school sponsored game, but it is still a sporting event. No one expects go to a college or professional sporting event and not run into a few rowdy fans. Isn’t that part of the fun of a hockey game?
# 21, Freshmen Brendan Hathaway controls the puck for the Blue Wave against West Haven
The Hockey team gets ready for the start of the game.
The team heads for the locker room
