| << Front page | Sports | February 29, 2008 |
In the Locker Room: Matt & Bryan
In 1979, the Oberlin hockey team disbanded, leaving many students devastated. The players made it their goal to keep hockey alive on campus by creating a club team. Almost 30 years later, the OC Plague is a community pride. This week’s interview is with the gentlemen who have kept the dream alive, junior Matt Hollenbeck and senior Bryan Werner.
Moose Terry: Why was the team disbanded back in 1979?
Matt Hollenbeck: Back then the only other varsity teams were big D-I [Division I] schools like Ohio State and Ohio University. The team would get thumped by every opponent, so they thought it would be best if the program went club.
Bryan Werner: I never knew that was the reason. Pretty much the team would go 0-29 every season and that’s why they stopped being varsity. Ha!
MT: How did the responsibility of keeping the club team going fall onto you guys?
MH: Free and fair elections.
BH: And our diehard love of hockey.
MH: Pretty much Bryan was the best player we had, and I was the one who cared the most about the program.
BH: In America we call that free and fair election.
MT: Does your team get into fights with other squads?
MH: Hell yeah! In fact we had a fight break out at our last game against Wooster and two of our players were ejected.
BH: We may have lost the game but we sure did win the fight. We’re 0-1 in games but 1-0 in fights.
MT: What is the most embarrassing hit you have seen on the ice?
MH: [Laughs] There are two we should talk about. Taylor Walsh lit up Ben Kagan-Guthrie and ended his season in practice one day. It was a vicious but hysterical hit.
BH: The other has to be from the Wooster game earlier this week. Our teammate Peter got lit up by a female player on the Scot’s squad. It was hilarious. The crowd went nuts and the benches erupted.
MT: If there was one thing you could force your players to do in order to give them an edge, what would it be?
MH: I would have to say forced use of HGH [Human Growth Hormone]. Look what it has done for major league baseball and its stars.
BH: I prefer my HGH with lemon-lime Gatorade. I would definitely make HGH and lemon-lime mandatory.
MT: What is the hardest part of running a club hockey team?
BH: It would have to be balancing being a coach and a player at the same time. It’s hard to get the respect you need when you coach and play with your peers. They think they can just scrimmage whenever they want to. If we want to start winning games, people need to straighten up and fly right.
MT: How do you convince people to play for the OC Plague?
MH: We are very good at selling the program because we do it all the time for the ExCo. We simply mesmerize people with our good looks and charming personality.
BH: I like to tell people about the endless supply of women that come with the hockey team.
MH: Two words: Puck Slut.
MT: If you had to wrestle one animal in order to survive, what animal would it be and why?
BH: The first thing I think of is an alligator.
MH: Why would you pick an angry alligator? I would definitely say a kitty cat because there’s no wrestling needed. All you have to do to a cat is drop kick it and move on with life.
BH: I’m talking about wrestling a water-prone animal on land. I’m not talking about wrestling a bear or anything. Hell, I would fight a great white shark as long as the fight was on land.
MH: Well, sure. I bet you could do it as long as it was from behind.
MT: Would you ever play a gamewith a shark tank under the ice rink?
MH: How thick is the ice? If it’s five inches, for sure, I would drive a car onto the ice.
BH: What about 2½ inches? I would do it if the ice was that thick.
MH: 2½ inches works great. I think that would be a really sweet game.
MT: Well, it’s time for this week’s question of the week. This week’s “President Krislov, when it snows non-stop for 36 hours, you should cancel class” question of the week is: Would you rather be tortured by waterboarding or frozen from the waist down in an ice rink during an NHL game?
MH: The waist down thing sounds terrible; it’s way too cold. It’s really not good for the bits and pieces. Definitely waterboarding.
BH: For sure, waterboarding. Who cares about the hockey game, my little fellas are my number one concern.
Moose Terry: Why was the team disbanded back in 1979?
Matt Hollenbeck: Back then the only other varsity teams were big D-I [Division I] schools like Ohio State and Ohio University. The team would get thumped by every opponent, so they thought it would be best if the program went club.
Bryan Werner: I never knew that was the reason. Pretty much the team would go 0-29 every season and that’s why they stopped being varsity. Ha!
MT: How did the responsibility of keeping the club team going fall onto you guys?
MH: Free and fair elections.
BH: And our diehard love of hockey.
MH: Pretty much Bryan was the best player we had, and I was the one who cared the most about the program.
BH: In America we call that free and fair election.
MT: Does your team get into fights with other squads?
MH: Hell yeah! In fact we had a fight break out at our last game against Wooster and two of our players were ejected.
BH: We may have lost the game but we sure did win the fight. We’re 0-1 in games but 1-0 in fights.
MT: What is the most embarrassing hit you have seen on the ice?
MH: [Laughs] There are two we should talk about. Taylor Walsh lit up Ben Kagan-Guthrie and ended his season in practice one day. It was a vicious but hysterical hit.
BH: The other has to be from the Wooster game earlier this week. Our teammate Peter got lit up by a female player on the Scot’s squad. It was hilarious. The crowd went nuts and the benches erupted.
MT: If there was one thing you could force your players to do in order to give them an edge, what would it be?
MH: I would have to say forced use of HGH [Human Growth Hormone]. Look what it has done for major league baseball and its stars.
BH: I prefer my HGH with lemon-lime Gatorade. I would definitely make HGH and lemon-lime mandatory.
MT: What is the hardest part of running a club hockey team?
BH: It would have to be balancing being a coach and a player at the same time. It’s hard to get the respect you need when you coach and play with your peers. They think they can just scrimmage whenever they want to. If we want to start winning games, people need to straighten up and fly right.
MT: How do you convince people to play for the OC Plague?
MH: We are very good at selling the program because we do it all the time for the ExCo. We simply mesmerize people with our good looks and charming personality.
BH: I like to tell people about the endless supply of women that come with the hockey team.
MH: Two words: Puck Slut.
MT: If you had to wrestle one animal in order to survive, what animal would it be and why?
BH: The first thing I think of is an alligator.
MH: Why would you pick an angry alligator? I would definitely say a kitty cat because there’s no wrestling needed. All you have to do to a cat is drop kick it and move on with life.
BH: I’m talking about wrestling a water-prone animal on land. I’m not talking about wrestling a bear or anything. Hell, I would fight a great white shark as long as the fight was on land.
MH: Well, sure. I bet you could do it as long as it was from behind.
MT: Would you ever play a gamewith a shark tank under the ice rink?
MH: How thick is the ice? If it’s five inches, for sure, I would drive a car onto the ice.
BH: What about 2½ inches? I would do it if the ice was that thick.
MH: 2½ inches works great. I think that would be a really sweet game.
MT: Well, it’s time for this week’s question of the week. This week’s “President Krislov, when it snows non-stop for 36 hours, you should cancel class” question of the week is: Would you rather be tortured by waterboarding or frozen from the waist down in an ice rink during an NHL game?
MH: The waist down thing sounds terrible; it’s way too cold. It’s really not good for the bits and pieces. Definitely waterboarding.
BH: For sure, waterboarding. Who cares about the hockey game, my little fellas are my number one concern.
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