Bengal hockey team to begin second season with goal switching from ‘survive’ to ‘improve’

POCATELLO — The Idaho State University lucky squad officially began its 2nd play pinch a preseason back-to-back against Boise State University successful Hailey.

Head coach Shawn Gardner told EastIdahoNews.com that past play was astir survival. The squad started its 2023-24 play pinch conscionable 14 players — 12 skaters and 2 goalies — meaning rests were fewer and acold between.

“We were playing shorthanded,” Gardner said. … “We were playing against existing programs pinch afloat rosters. It was a unsmooth season.”

This year, nan Bengals will participate nan regular play pinch a afloat 22-man roster — 18 skaters and 4 goalies.

“We’re decidedly going to beryllium amended than past year, conscionable based connected nan truth that we’re going to person a afloat chair going into games — not hurting for illustration we were past year,” Gardner added.

A retired master rodeo cowboy, Gardner said he recovered lucky later successful life. Mogul skiing, he said, was ever an outlet erstwhile he wasn’t rodeoing, but astir 2 decades ago, a expert told him he could nary longer skis moguls.

When asked what he could do for exercise, nan expert recommended crystal skating.

“In my mind, skating meant I could spell play hockey,” he said.

Gardner’s son, Dusty, took up nan sport, truthful Shawn coached him opening erstwhile nan younger Gardner was four.

Dusty was 1 of nan founding members of nan ISU nine lucky team. When that nine went retired successful hunt of a coach, Shawn knew, contempt his having retired from coaching hockey, he had to do it.

Shawn established a five-year scheme for processing nan squad into a title contender — opening pinch shape one, play one: survival.

The skimpy roster survived that first season, ending nan play pinch conscionable 10 skaters and 2 goalies. Hockey is played, normally, pinch 3 attackers, 2 defenders and a goaltender connected nan crystal astatine once. So, players were asked to stay connected nan crystal for acold longer than Shawn would person liked.

Still, only 1 of those 12 has not returned for play two.

Shawn described nan toughness of lucky players.

“Hockey players are just, freakin’, mentally tough,” he said. … “Hockey players are nan only athletes who are arsenic reliable arsenic rodeo cowboys.”

Courtesy hockey

Part 2 of Shawn’s five-step scheme is to, successful a word, “improve.”

With a afloat roster this season, Shawn expects his squad to beryllium much competitory — though he understands that, pinch small collegiate-level experience, they will “take immoderate lumps” this year. They already person taken immoderate of those lumps, losing 14-0 and past 20-1 successful their 2 accumulation games against nan Boise State Broncos.

A .500 record, he continued, would beryllium a triumph this season.

“Just nan truth that we’re getting backmost connected nan crystal — you commencement a programme from thing and build it to this (in 1 year): full success,” he said.

Getting done this season, while processing nan players’ skills and a baseplate for occurrence will lead into shape 3 — amended recruiting.

Shawn said ISU gets nan mostly of its players from Idaho’s “hotbeds” of hockey: Idaho Falls, Boise, Sun Valley, and Salmon. They besides person a fewer players from Utah, California, and Alaska.

With improved sanction recognition, Shawn said, nan recruitment nett will beryllium formed wider adjacent season, each starring to nan endgame of nan five-year plan: to compete pinch powers for illustration Montana State for a American College Hockey Association (ACHA) section title.

The Bengals will statesman their regular play astatine nan University of New Mexico connected Oct. 18.

For much information, sojourn nan team’s Facebook page.