Twice the ice makes TBSA the official home for Jr. Lightning

When Nick Mininno made the Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning Mite Travel Team recently it's as if the 7-year-old scored two goals in one.

He not only gets to become a member of the team, but he also gets to train at the Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar - the new official home of the Tampa Jr. Lightning Hockey Club.

At left, Nick Mininno, 7, and his dad, Jim.

"I like this place," says Jim Mininno, Nick's dad. "I checked out a few other area rinks, and I like the people here, and I like the rink. For one, it has two full-size rinks, compared to the other area rinks, so there's more opportunity here for kids to get ice time."

Just like his dad, Nick enjoys playing hockey at TBSA, too.

"We get to have fun and shoot on goalies," he says, smiling.

The Mininnos aren't the only ones excited about the Jr. Lightning organization moving to TBSA.

"We've seen positive results since it was announced (last month)," says the Jr. Lightning's Vice President Julie Garr. "People are excited. We've had more kids try out. It's very obvious for the parents what to do next because everybody is working together."

Boys and girls ranging in ages from 8 to 18 can try out to be a part of the Jr. Lightning club, one of Tampa's top youth hockey organizations.

For more than 20 years, the club operated out of Clearwater Ice Arena, which only has one sheet of ice.

Garr says there were several reasons that prompted the organization to move the youth hockey program to TBSA, which has two full-size rinks.

"They have dual-ice, which a program like ours needs," she says. "They also have built up their in-house program in the last year, which was very appealing to us. And there is a mutual respect with management. So far, it's been easy going."

While the Jr. Lightning organization will continue to be self-governered, the partnership with TBSA is a team effort designed to encourage and prepare youth hockey players as they advance from the learn-to-skate programs and the instructional and recreational hockey programs to the A and AA travel teams.

TBSA Hockey Director Al Nicoll stands with some
of the boys who tried out recently and made the
Jr. Lightning Mite Travel Team.

Al Nicoll, TBSA's hockey director, is pleased the Jr. Lightning club has joined forces with the rink.

"They're getting involved in our in-house program, coaching clinics and mentoring programs, so we can do better training to get the kids ready to play travel hockey," he says.

As Nick continues to play hockey throughout his childhood, he may not remember the day he made the Mite travel team. But he definitely remembers the day about 2 1/2 years ago when his interest in hockey was first piqued.

"My dad turned on the TV and he started watching it," he says. "He use to play when he was my age so I got interested in it."

There's little doubt hockey will continue to be a bond he and his dad will share for years to come - at the Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar.

All together now....a great ending to a challenging season

For the Tampa Bay Skating Club's junior synchro skaters, there's only one thing that beats doing your personal best - and that's doing it in unison. 

After a series of setbacks and injuries at sectionals, the Florida Sunsations put themselves back together and did what they had hoped to do at nationals recently: skate their best.

The junior Florida Sunsations synchro team.

"I just really wanted us to have a clean skate and be proud that we skated our best," senior member Laura Verkyk says. "After we got off the ice we were all in tears. We really acted like we got first place."

The team finished in last place out of 12 teams from across the nation, but performing well was their No. 1 goal.

"Even though we got last place, the place wasn't important," senior Allyson Klovekorn says. "We beat our scores from sectionals and we skated a clean long program."

One of the commentators for the 2013 US Synchronized Skating Championships in Plymouth, Michigan, said the 12-member synchro team from Oldsmar, FL, had the most important thing going for them during their long program:

"They should feel very proud of this performance to come out and really just hit each element," said commentator Becky Search, 2007 World synchronized skating silver medalist. "They look like they were having so much fun, which when it comes down to it is the most important thing."

For Laura, 18, part of what made it so fun was the support of the audience.

The Sunsations perform at the 2013 US Synchronized
Skating Championships.

"The best part was the feeling of being out there on the ice and hearing our name being cheered from the fans and everybody clapping to our music," she said. "We've never had that before. It was such an accomplishment. It was very overwhelming."

(See the video of their long program performance at nationals as they skate to the music Material Girl by Madonna and Sparkling Diamonds by Moulin Rouge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c1tba7Elg0)

Two years ago the team started participating in the more competitive US Figure Skating events, which have strict rules and guidelines for performance and allows teams to compete at sectionals and nationals. Prior to that, they only competed in Ice Skating Institute (ISI) events, which are geared toward recreational skating. 

Rachel Duckworth, who co-coaches the junior Sunsations along with Nicole West, says she never doubted the team would compete at nationals this year.

Coach Rachel Duckworth

"I would tell them, 'We're gonna make it to nationals,' and they would say, 'No, there's no way,' and I would say, 'Yeah, we really are,'" Duckworth said.

The top four teams at sectionals go to nationals. But because there weren't any junior synchro teams competing from the western division, the Sunsations just had to participate at sectionals to get a ticket to nationals.

"We've never had a synchro team get to nationals before so to get there was exciting," she added.

After skating their personal best at the March 1, 2013, national championships, the Sunsations came back home to compete again. It was as though that 'first place' feeling stayed with them because this time performing their best won them the top spot locally.

Coach Nicole West

At the March 23, 2013, ISI Spring Fling competition at the Tampa Bay Skating Academy they captured first place out of four other teams.

While they ended their synchro season on a high note, their road to nationals was a bumpy ride fraught with setbacks. At the 2013 Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships in February in Lake Placid, NY, the team endured one injury after another.

"They stole the show when they ended up with four people in the hospital," Duckworth said.

Intermediate member Carla Brunini and junior members Alisa Goldstein, Alisha Sarley, and Tori Kerr were all taken to the local hospital for a variety of injuries.

Carla had an asthma attack. Alisa fell during the competition and someone accidentally ran over her finger. She received several stitches but went on to compete at nationals. Alisha injured her knee and wasn't able to compete at nationals. And Tori injured her foot but was able to skate at the national championships.

Tori slipped and injured her foot on the icy walk to the Lake Placid Olympic Center to perform. She went on the ice to compete anyway.

"Rachel carried me off the ice," Tori said. "I couldn't walk anymore." Other than that, though, she said, "It was a lot of fun."

Just having the opportunity to go to sectionals and then nationals was an exciting experience for the team.

"Especially since I'm a senior it means so much to me," Allyson said. "I always wanted to go watch nationals. I never imagined skating at nationals. So it was great to get to go my last year." 

At left, Allyson Klovekorn, and
Laura Verkyk

Allyson, who also competes as a single skater, says being on the ice with other team members is more fun then skating alone.

"It's not as stressful. The pressures not all on me," she said. "It's me and all of my team. So I can have more fun out there."
 
And, synchro skaters know, there's something about skating with others that tends to bring out the best in a skater.

"I didn't like competing solo," said Laura, whose been on the team for four years. "When I started skating synchro, skating just became so fun for me. I progressed so much. They encouraged me. When I am with my team I want to do it for them." 

And that's exactly what the junior Florida Sunsations synchro team members did for each other this season - saved the best for last. 

Team members wait to hear their scores at nationals.
Allyson Klovekorn, Olivia Naab, Alisa Goldstein,
Sarah Bowman, Caroline Tuxhorn, Ali Stipe,
Mariah Salas, Laura Verkyk, Tori Kerr,
Brittany Rossow, BrookeLyn McGauley, and
Sarah Fuller, who filled in for injured Alisha Sarley.

For former NHL player and pro shop owner, the goal now is retirement

As in most things hockey, it's all about the timing. 

Norm Beaudin helps customers in the pro shop recently.
He's retiring, but he will stay on for about a month
to sharpen skates and help with the transition.

So it should come as no surprise that former National Hockey League player Norm Beaudin knows the time is right to retire as the owner of Beaudin's Hockey Zone, located inside the Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar. 

After 12 years as president of the hockey and figure skating retail store, and a lifetime of hockey, Norm, 71, officially handed over the pro shop earlier this week. He will stay on for about a month to help with the transition.

He passes it off to Nick Flaskay, the rink's managing partner. The pro shop is called the Tampa Bay Skate Shop.

"I've known Norm for 14 years," Flaskay says. "I got him into the pro shop business by working with him to establish a business that he developed quite successfully."

In fact, Flaskay says, Norm's ability to take a shot at success goes beyond hockey.

"Norm loves all sports, including golf," Flaskay says. "He's quite adept at hitting a golf slap shot that looks just like a hockey slap shot - he was, after all, an NHL player." 

The former pro hockey player has earned his spot in hockey history. To read more about his career, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_Beaudin

Norm's retirement marks the end of an era at TBSA. So we sat down with him to find out, among other things, what's next for him and his wife, Linda.

Q: What prompted the decision to retire?

Norm: Naturally, we're getting older...and we weren't feeling well so we decided to leave the business. I'll be 72 in November. It's time to retire. 

Q: What are you going to do now?

Norm:  I'm going to feel my way around active retirement. (He laughs.) In about a month, we're visiting my daughter in Canada and celebrating our 50th anniversary on August 3 in Vancouver. (They hope all four of their kids, David, Nadine, Gregory and Carrie Lynn, will be there to celebrate with them.) It's good timing because I can relax and not wonder how the store is doing. I also want to get back in better shape than I am so being retired maybe I'll have more time to do that.

Q: What led you to move into the pro shop business?

Norm: I was the hockey director at TBSA in 2001. I went on vacation but got sick and ended up staying home. Nick called and asked, "How would you like to run the pro shop?" It was a little shock to me because I'd never been in retail, only in hockey. But then we expanded to Ellenton and CIA (Clearwater Ice Arena) and at one time I had three shops going. (His son, David, also helped run the shops.)

Q: What's your hockey background?

Norm played right wing.
 His playing career ran
from 1967 to 1976.

Norm: I played for 15 years professionally. I played in the minor leagues, the National Hockey League, the World Hockey Association, for the Winnipeg Jets. I also played for the Minnesota North Stars and the St. Louis Blues. I played in the American Hockey League. And I went to Switzerland for three years as a player and coach where I had to learn German.

Q: Have you met any great hockey players?

Norm: I played with Bobby Hull. As far as I'm concerned, he's the greatest player to play the game. Having the chance to play with Bobby was a dream and an honor. 

Q: How did you end up in hockey?

Norm: I was born on a farm in Montmartre, Saskatchewan in Canada. Before you could walk you had skates on. Our first instinct is to go on the pond and go skating. There were 13 kids in my family so we had a hockey team. But I'm the only one who pursued a career in hockey.

Q: Are you going to stay connected to the sport?

Norm: Oh yeah. I'll continue to play in the '50's and over' league.

Q: Anything you'd like to say before you retire?

Norm: Linda and I would like to thank all the customers who supported us through hockey. We've tried to give good service because service is the key. I know this will continue. 

Women hockey players face challenges even before faceoff

At a Florida Women's Hockey League Tournament, just showing up can be what separates the men from the, well, ladies.

"We deal with some things the boys don't, like pregnancies and sick kids," Jenny Sumner says.

 In the "C" division, the Ms Conduct, in white, play the
Sea Gals, in blue, in the women's hockey league
tournament held at Tampa Bay Skating Academy.

In fact, if it wasn't for Sumner filling in for a player who recently gave birth and couldn't make it, Corinne Deckard's team might not have been able to play in the tournament, which was held February 15 -17 at Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar, FL.

Deckard's team, the Ms Conduct, went on to place second in the "C" division, which is for advanced players. The Sea Gals placed first.

Although women's hockey is one of the fastest growing women's sports - making its Olympic debut in Nagano, Japan in 1998 - it faces some unique challenges.

"The women who are the age to compete are the child-bearing age so participation ebbs and flows," says Deckard, the team captain.

In the "C" division, the Sea Gals took first place at the
Florida Women's Hockey League Tournament.

Other than that, games contain forechecking, backchecking, crashing the crease and more, and are played with the same fast-paced intensity and desire to win as the men's games. In the women's sport, though, body checking - using the hip or body to knock an opponent against the boards - is not allowed, and a full-face mask is required.

"We definitely play a very physical game," says Sumner, who is a professor at the University of Central Florida. "But women play with a little more strategy rather than brute force."

In the "Rec" division, which is for novice players, the Sea Gals novice team placed first, and the Lady Everglades placed second.

In the "Rec" division, the Sea Gals novice team
won first place. 

Now in its 10th season, the Florida Women's Hockey League, which sponsored the tournament, is the only league of its kind in the state, says Sumner, league president.

As many as 13 teams from all over the state, including the Everglades, Fort Myers and Jacksonville, come together to play in five tournaments a season, or about one per month. The season runs from October through February.

"It's a unique situation," Deckard, 34, says. "My husband is jealous because he doesn't get to play like this."

Corinne Deckard, captain
of the Ms Conduct team.

Men hockey players don't have a league set up like the women's hockey league where they can travel to different statewide venues and compete in tournaments against other men teams.

"The men play in rink or house leagues, which are fun and more social," Sumner says. "And many of us still play in those leagues, too. But we set our league up because we're passionate about our hockey and we want to see women playing women in a more competitive environment."

Jenny Sumner, president
of the Florida Women's Hockey
League.

Normally, Sumner wouldn't have been able to fill in because she is on another league team, the Tampa Elite, but the team wasn't able to compete in this tournament, which freed up Sumner to help out.

The tournament at Tampa Bay Skating Academy was the league's last tournament of the season. League board members will meet in May to decide where they're going to play next season's five tournaments.

"We try to play all over the state of Florida so the same teams don't have to do all the traveling," Sumner, 35, says. "We've played here (at Tampa Bay Skating Academy) before. They're very supportive of our league and women's hockey."

As for exactly who will be playing next season that can be hard to tell, of course. Because what happens off the ice in women's hockey can be just as much of a factor in the game as what happens on the ice.

You won the gold! So how does that make you feel?

After years of long, dedicated hours of training at Tampa Bay Skating Academy, JoJo and William Hubbart saw one of their dreams come true this year--winning the gold medal in juvenile pairs at the 2013 US Figure Skating Championships in Omaha, Nebraska.

JoJo and William perform their juvenile pairs program
on JoJo's 14th birthday, Jan. 25, earning an unusually
high score of 48.16 to win the gold by a landslide.

Of course, that begs the question: How did that make them feel?

"It feels good," William says, smiling. "But I definitely need to start preparing for these interviews."

All their hard work on the ice couldn't have prepared JoJo and William for the spotlight off the ice and in the media. But as they continue to skate and compete, answering reporters' questions will be something they will need to get use to.

"One of the interviews happened right after I competed and got off the ice," William, 15, says. "I don't think I did very well with that one."

The Hubbart pair team in the past month have been the subject of several media stories about their journey... and their recent success. A staff writer for the Omaha World-Herald interviewed them, along with their parents, Kevin and Carol Hubbart, at their practice session the day before they competed at nationals. The story spotlights why Kevin and Carol introduced William to figure skating when he was very young and how JoJo followed suit.

Read the story titled, "Competition at Civic has family feel," here: http://www.omaha.com/article/20130124/SPORTS/701249808

William also competes at nationals in
singles, placing in the top ten.

Then after skating his single intermediate men's short program, William only had a little while before he had to compete again in pairs with JoJo. Right after their gold medal performance a reporter for icenetwork.com, a website for figure skating news, grabbed William for an interview.  

"It was my second program in 90 minutes," he says. "I was really tired, really worn out. I didn't expect it."

Shortly after the Hubbarts returned home, a writer and a photographer for the Tampa Bay Times, formerly the St. Petersburg Times, visited the Oldsmar rink to do a story on the young pair team. The Times story highlights their win at nationals and goes more in depth on the circumstances surrounding William's birth that eventually led to the sport of figure skating becoming a family affair.

See the story titled, "Young North Pinellas figure skaters win gold at nationals." http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/young-north-pinellas-figure-skaters-win-gold-at-nationals/1273907

JoJo, William and their coaches Laura Amelina and
Alex Vlassov in the Kiss & Cry after hearing
the pair skaters' high score.

And the limelight continues...

Next week, The Tampa Tribune will run a story on the teens' accomplishment in the Northwest and Carrollwood sections of the newspaper. A month from now, a more in-depth story will run in the Tribune on the front page of the Sports section. 

We, of course, couldn't pass up the chance either: Here's a Q & A with the 2013 Juvenile Pair Gold Medalists JoJo and William Hubbart.

Q. What's more scary: right before a competition or talking to a reporter?

William: I would honestly say talking to a reporter because you're not prepared. You go all year preparing for a competition but you can never prepare for the quotes.

JoJo: Right before a competition. I don't feel stressed talking to a reporter because they're just another person.

Q. If you could pick anyone in the world to answer all the reporters' questions instead of you, who would it be?

William: Washington Nationals' baseball player Bryce Harper. He was so funny in all his interviews last year. I just love to watch him.

JoJo: Honestly, probably myself. Because I like being me and I don't want anyone taking that away from me.

Q. What's a question the reporters who have interviewed you so far didn't ask that you wish they would have?

William: I wish they would have given a lot more credit to JoJo for the double-flip throw. She got a plus two on that. (A plus two is the highest mark you can get, William explains.) I wish they would have mentioned it more in the newspaper because that was one of the most difficult throws. They didn't even do that throw at the intermediate level (at this competition).

JoJo: I can't think of anything. I felt they did a good job.

Q. Have you read the stories written about you? As you read them, what are you thinking and feeling?

JoJo and William skate at nationals in Omaha
garnering high marks for their throw double-flip,
side-by-side double Lutzes and synchronized spins.

William: It's almost like I can't believe I'm reading about myself in the newspaper. I never thought it would get to this point.

JoJo: It's nice to be in the paper because it's new. It's fun. It's a little bit of fame, kind of.

Q. What are you doing with the articles written about you?

JoJo: I have a box that I keep all my skating memorabilia in. I keep the box up high so nothing will happen to it.

William: We're saving them and keeping them for memorabilia. I'm sure we'll want them for later. I keep mine all under my bed away from the dogs and little siblings.

Q. Have you had a dream about being interviewed by reporters?

JoJo: Yes. It was a big competition and there were a bunch of microphones in my face and I was like, 'Oh, no!' (She puts both hands to her cheeks.)

Q. In your house, who's more excited about your winning the gold?

JoJo: That's a tough one because everyone is so happy for us and I'm really thankful for them.

William: Out of everyone, I would have to say my mom.

Q. What's the first thing you think of when you walk into Tampa Bay Skating Academy and see the big banner congratulating you two for winning the gold?

JoJo: The rink is giving us a lot of support and it feels really nice.

William: I just feel so happy to be recognized. It makes everything worthwhile.


To watch JoJo and William's gold medal juvenile pairs performance at nationals, click below.

The Secret to Extreme Skating: Don't Crash

Avid hockey player Harrison Rigsby didn't quite know what to expect.

This would be his first time auditioning for a Red Bull Crashed Ice Qualifier, which was held at Tampa Bay Skating Academy (TBSA) earlier this month. 

Harrison Rigsby races through the Red Bull obstacle
course at Tampa Bay Skating Academy recently.

The event presented skaters with an intense obstacle course designed to separate those who would move on to the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship…from those who would, well, crash. 

The event was also a first for TBSA. However, rink manager Glyn Jones couldn’t pass up the chance to host it, calling it “good entertainment” for fans of what might be called extreme skating.

But the moment Rigsby, a resident of Orlando, entered the Oldsmar rink, something inside felt familiar…something just clicked…

"I never tried out for one of these things before but the moment I tied my skates, I thought I had a chance at it," he said. "I kind of got tears in that moment." 

Those tears of joy were precognitive. Rigsby won the qualifying event that had him and 18 other skaters from all over the world - even one from as far as Germany - maneuvering tight turns and stops, jumping over and under hurdles, all while going as fast as possible. 

Rigsby holds his ticket to the World Championship.

"Trying not to disqualify myself was the biggest challenge," the 22-year-old said. "If any part of your jersey touched anything you were disqualified."

With an overall best time of 24 seconds, Rigsby, a junior at University of Central Florida and a forward on the college hockey team, earned his spot at the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship, held in Saint Paul, MN, Jan. 24 - 26, 2013.

Red Bull Crashed Ice is a combination of ice hockey, downhill skating and boardercross. The first-ever Ice Cross Downhill race began in 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden. Since then, the competition has grown into one of the most breathtaking of extreme winter sports.

Aerial of 400-meter-long Red Bull Crashed Ice World
Championship course in Saint Paul, MN., where Rigsby
and some 200 others competed. 

Rigsby was one of about 200 competitors to advance to the world championship, out of thousands of skaters who had tried. Once there, Rigsby experienced another skating first: racing down a steep 400-meter-long course of razor-sharp hairpin turns, bumps, jumps, rollers and obstacles. 

"It was exhilarating,” he said. “There's about a 50-foot drop in the beginning where you can't see where your feet are supposed to go. You're going about 20 to 30 mph. The only way to enjoy it was to be fearless.”

Rigsby was only a couple tenths of a second from being in the top 36 finishers.

“I'll be getting a lot further next year, that's for sure," he said.

TBSA is also looking forward to the event next year. This was the first-ever Red Bull Crashed Ice Qualifier to be held in Tampa Bay. And TBSA was the first rink in the area to get the job of hosting the event.

Glyn Jones, TBSA manager.

The Oldsmar rink met all the requirements Red Bull event organizers needed, such as an NHL-size rink and the best ice time. 

"They looked at all the rinks in this area and they finally decided on our place," Jones said. "They were very professional. They came in and set it all up. (The obstacle course for the qualifying events) are all set up the same way."

Jones said he would be happy to host another Red Bull event in the future.

Athletes from all over made the trip to TBSA to compete.
Fellow competitors congratulate Rigsby, in blue jersey.

Tryouts are held in various cities all over the country leading up to each of the five World Championship events. 

A strong showing of competitors came to the Oldsmar qualifying event. Athletes from as near as Tampa, Orlando, and Coral Springs made the trip, as well as competitors from Kansas, Chicago and New York.

Even Michael Hoffmann, a very determined German, didn't let the fact he didn't win in the Dallas qualifying event deter him. He rented a car and drove to Tampa to compete again.

But the obstacle courses that competitors skate through to qualify are no match for the real thing. At the world championships, competitors begin the race in groups of four, standing shoulder to shoulder, as they push, slide, wrangle and hurtle down steep ice. High speeds and a twisty course make for a lot of action and a good amount of crashes. 

Canadian Kyle Croxall won the World Championship race in Saint Paul. Rigsby ran into Croxall during his stay there.

Rigsby, third in line at top of hill, starts his descent
down the track in downtown Saint Paul.  

"He said when he heard I was from Florida he thought I was going to die going down the hill," Rigsby said, laughing.

Fortunately, Rigsby did not crash and lived to skate again. 

And as you might expect, deep down, he has a familiar feeling that he’ll be back to audition again next year, quite possibly at the Tampa Bay Skating Academy.

For the Love of Ice: Trading Cayman Islands' Breezes for a Good Game of Hockey

On a recent Saturday morning at Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar, the unrelenting cold of the north rink seems miles away from the warm, off-shore breezes of the Cayman Islands — about 520 nautical miles, actually. But the four members of the hockey team Breakaway are doing their best to be ambassadors of the tropical paradise — all for the love of ice.

The team practices at Tampa Bay Skating Academy.
From left to right, Bill Messer, Norm Klein,
Joe Stasiuk, and Tim Derksen.

"Today the ice here was perfect," Norm Klein says.  

Klein and members Bill Messer, Joe Stasiuk and Tim Derksen are happy to train in the "more northern climes" of Tampa Bay as they prepare for the 12th annual World Pond Hockey Championships being held in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, Canada, Feb. 7 – 10, 2013. 

Participating in the international event, which focuses more on camaraderie and trading stories rather than on winning at all costs, is a tradition with the group since they started nine years ago. 

The team of Canadian expatriates will join about 120 other teams from around the world to play four-on-four, without goalies, outdoors on frozen bodies of water. 

Bill Messer

"That's how you learn to play hockey, on a lake, as a little kid," Messer says. 

But the Cayman Islands, where all four have lived for many years, doesn't have frozen lakes—or even an ice rink. It's located in the western Caribbean Sea. So each year they fly up for several weekends during the months prior to February to practice at the ice rink in Oldsmar. 

"We play here the most because they give us the best ice times," Klein says.

On this day, the four are playing two-on-two on the north rink. The puck is hard to follow but it's not too long before Stasiuk winds up for a slap shot. The puck hits Messer's thigh and flies into the net. 

"That's how Bill gets all his goals," Derksen jokes. 

Tim Derksen

Derksen, who's in his early 40s, and the other two seem to enjoy taking shots at Messer, but it's all in good fun. They know the Cayman Breakaway Hockey Club wouldn't exist if it weren't for the team's brainchild. 

After all, it was Messer, 50, who came up with the idea after reading about the World Pond event in the Wall Street Journal. He pitched it to the others at a sports bar one night. 

"I thought he was nuts," Stasiuk, 53, says. "I hadn't played in eight years. But the more beer, the better the idea became."

"By the end of the night, Bill was a genius," Klein, 49, adds. 

Norm Klein

All four started playing hockey at a very young age. They had continued playing into adulthood, but had then hung up their skates. Messer, the team captain, and Klein are now attorneys. Derksen is an accountant; Stasiuk, an engineer. 

Even though team Breakaway competes against hockey players younger and better than they are - some who are retired National Hockey League players - the team holds its own. 

Joe Stasiuk

"Last year, we were one goal away from making playoffs," Stasiuk says. "We made the playoffs once and we'd like to do it again."

Only the top 32 teams make the playoffs. 

The Breakaway team is sponsored by Cayman Airlines and the Cayman Islands Tourism Department. When they visit Oldsmar and aren't on the ice, they make sure to take in the local sights and restaurants. Bern's Steak House, Mise en Place, Lee Roy Selmon's and Jack Willie's are just some of their favorite hot spots.

"We do our best to stimulate the economy," Derksen says, smiling.

But for now, on this Saturday morning, miles away from home, it's all about hockey…and the love of ice.