Hockey: Pitt club team to play in new arena on Sunday

Take Fifth Avenue Downtown. Merge onto Interstate 579 North. Exit onto Route 28 North, and take… Take Fifth Avenue Downtown. Merge onto Interstate 579 North. Exit onto Route 28 North, and take that for 11 miles or so.

Congratulations, you have reached Harmarville, home to 1,200 Pennsylvanians — and the Pitt club hockey team.

If you want to watch Pitt hockey, you have to make this 25-minute drive out to BladeRunners Ice Complex. And if you want to play Pitt hockey, you have to do it at 10 p.m., twice a week, and get there in time for practice.

Many members of the Pitt community haven’t attended a Panthers hockey game. Many others don’t know of the program’s existence.

“A lot of students might not even know we have a team,” goaltender Mike Whitney said.

This Sunday afternoon, though, Pitt hockey will come closer to campus when the Panthers play Robert Morris at the freshly coronated Consol Energy Center as part of the RMU Hockey Showcase.

Sunday marks the event’s fifth year, but this will be the first time the Panthers participate. According to head coach Tom Rieck, Robert Morris contacted Pitt after its usual opponent, Washington & Jefferson, dropped out.

“Obviously, we said yes,” Rieck said. “And [we] did so very quickly.”

Pitt hockey operates as a club, or nonvarsity, program. Club teams function outside the University’s athletic department, the players cover some of the program’s costs and the staff hold other full-time jobs. Pitt lacks a Division I hockey program, so the club team serves as an outlet for anyone interested in playing the sport.

“Being labeled as a club sport doesn’t really provide an appropriate title,” sophomore forward Mike McCurdy said. “We practice several times a week after 10 p.m. and have to travel at least 20 minutes to practice and play. Also, the players get no free weekends from September all the way through March due to games.”

Since Pitt’s home rink is in Harmarville, transportation obstacles and odd practice times push the commitment beyond that of a typical on-campus club sport.

Players carpool to practices that run until nearly midnight.

“It’s tough at times to get everyone to practice since only half the team has a car, but we usually find a way,” Watson said. “Practice times are the other downfall. We practice late at night due to players having late classes and that being the only ice slot available at the rink. It’s a quick turnaround for those that have early morning classes, but late night practice is something we have all been doing now for most of our hockey careers.”

For a team accustomed to BladeRunners Ice Complex, the Consol Energy Center marks — by far — the program’s biggest stage since Rieck joined the program in 2000.

“I’ve played small pickup games at the Mellon Arena where there were five fans watching,” Watson said. “I can only imagine what it will be like to play in front of a crowded Consol Energy Center. Getting a chance to play senior year at a new state-of-the-art arena against a rival team — I don’t think the stage gets any bigger.”

Pitt, a member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, plays the Robert Morris club team at 3 p.m. The game lies in the middle of a triple-header that features the Robert Morris women’s team against Northeastern at noon and its men’s NCAA Division I team against Air Force at 6 p.m. Rieck said that the time slot should expose his team to a lot of hockey fans.

Whitney said he wishes Pitt had a rink on campus, as it would make the team more accessible. But expanding into Oakland — and into Division I hockey — takes money and land that, as of right now, doesn’t exist.

“I don’t think it will be in the near future unless a wealthy alum decides to donate a lot of money to get it going,” Rieck said.

Penn State received an $88-million donation last month to establish Division I men’s and women’s ice hockey programs.

Still, according to Watson, who leads the team with seven points in five games, Pitt hockey is on the rise.

“[Every year] we get a good group of freshman that comes into the program,” Watson said. “Unfortunately it’s tough to get the millions of dollars donated like Penn State that turned its program into a D-I NCAA hockey team, but Pitt hockey is definitely growing.”

Rieck said 60 to 75 students typically try out for the program, which fields a Division II club team as well.

Pitt and Duquesne will play basketball Downtown for the second year in a row, and the Consol Energy Center has a Panthers locker room, but Rieck doesn’t know if the game Sunday will start a tradition. Ultimately, Robert Morris organizes the event.

Even so, Watson said Sunday presents an opportunity for his program, Robert Morris’ program, and the conference.

“It’s a yearly thing that [Robert Morris’ D-I team] gets to play a game at Mellon Arena or the Consol Energy Center,” he said. “It would be good opportunity for [Pitt, Robert Morris and the ACHA] if we could be a part of that every year.”