While loudspeaker announcements, marching band songs and packed stands typically characterize the atmosphere in Thompson Arena during most Dartmouth hockey game days, the sport is also played among students at the College at a less competitive level. When the Big Green varsity hockey teams are not practicing or playing, the rink is often occupied by intramural teams.
The intramural hockey season, which culminates with the championship games at the end of February, is separated by skill level into three leagues the Granite League, the Moosilauke League and the Green League. Granite players are considered advanced and Moosilauke players compete at an intermediate level, while the Green League which was formed this season accommodates beginner players, who may not have any experience playing ice hockey or even standing up on the ice.
The league provides a unique opportunity for hockey and skating novices to practice, fall repeatedly or scramble around the rink without feeling out of place.
Seanie Civale '14, the captain of the Wolfpack team from the Green League, said it is easy to feel comfortable playing in the league despite her team's low skill level.
"We had a ton of inexperienced players on our team, which was actually the fun part about it," Civale said. "Everyone was a really good sport about it. Nobody was getting too competitive and whenever we played a team that was a lot better than us they weren't trying to kill us or anything."
Simon Zhang '14, Civale's Woflpack teammate, said the ability to play on the Big Green's home ice is "pretty cool."
"It's actually pretty crazy," he said. "I went to the hockey game and [looked] at all those guys who are so much better than us, but we get to play on the same ice as them."
Although players in the more experienced leagues boast higher skill levels, players interviewed by The Dartmouth said they maintain a lighthearted and friendly focus during intramural games.
Peter Hill '13, a member of the Moosilauke League team Rock'em Occom, said his team originally formed freshman year as a way for his friends to spend more time together.
"We got pretty goofy with it to be honest," he said. "We would get dressed up on game day nights in blazers and ties and have team dinners and we just kind of had a blast with it."
Hill echoed Zhang's sentiments and said the experience of scoring on the Thompson Arena ice can be just as exciting for intramural players. A member of the Rock'em Occom who could initially barely skate finally scored a goal in one of the last games of the season a funny moment the entire team shared, Hill said.
"It was just funny because this kid had no business being out on the ice," he said. Samuel Peck '10 Th '11, a member of the Phi Delta Alpha team in the Moosilauke League, said he appreciates the ability to have an athletic experience that can sometimes feel like playing on a varsity team.
"You have to wear a helmet and gloves so you're kind of suited up like you're in a real hockey game because you play with a buzzer and the scoreboard overhead," Peck said.
Peck said the games lack at least one element of the excitement of Big Green hockey games the fans.
"We don't get any spectators," he said. "It's an empty arena except for the people on the ice."
Intramural hockey also provides a unique opportunity for undergraduates and graduate students, and even some professors, to compete together on a level playing field. Such a dynamic can sometimes lead to awkward situations, players interviewed by The Dartmouth said.
"Last year it was pretty funny because one of my friends faced a team where his math professor was on the other team," Hill said.
Christopher Bahl, a graduate student at the College and a player on the Moosilauke league team Dartmoose 1, said there is a noticeable difference in the attitudes of undergraduate and graduate students on the ice.
"It's kind of funny," Bahl said. "The [undergraduate students] get kind of feisty a lot of times whereas the [graduate] students are a lot more laid back, [they] don't necessarily care if we win or lose so much."
One undergraduate student even threw down his gloves during the team's last game, attempting to start a fight with a professor.
"It was quite hilarious," Bahl said.
