Hockey is one of the most popular and beloved sports in St. Louis, yet St. Dominic does not have a hockey team. However, this does not keep our students from playing the sport they love.

All of our athletes find inspiration in different places, but one of our students got his love for hockey from watching his idols: the St. Louis Blues.

“I loved the pace of play when watching the Blues, or any hockey game for that matter. I’ve always been amazed by the speed and energy of the game, on the ice and off of it… it is simply spellbinding,” said senior Gus Knapp, player for the Chesterfield Falcons U18 Central States team.

Despite the love our players have for the game, they sacrifice a lot to play for the sport. From friendships to time and money, anything is worth time on the ice.

“You have to put a ton of time into it for the practices, games and traveling. Also, competitive hockey is very expensive,” said junior Matthew Koffman, player for Duchesne High School.

The major sacrifice most players make is time. Knapp missed seventeen days of school just to play hockey his junior year, including an entire week while competing in Salt Lake City. Spending so much time away from home also makes it difficult to maintain a social life.

“All of this traveling has had an effect on my social life, as it was hard for me to hang out with friends when traveling so much,” said Knapp.

As with any other sport, hockey players must overcome challenges to play. Along with the general struggles most hockey players have with time and money, our athletes deal with personal struggles as well. Hockey is a rough sport, and it is not uncommon to get beat up out on the ice.

“[I’ve had] two concussions, severe elbow and ankle contusions… I missed two and a half months combined with my last two concussions, and the hardest part was coming back from those. With a concussion, you’re not allowed to do any physical activity above a brisk walk, and for me this stage lasted upwards of three weeks. You lose your stamina and quickness with that much time off from any vigorous activity. The workouts when you are cleared for activity at this point wear you out fast, and it is very tough to build that stamina and quickness back up again,” said Knapp.

The hockey players here at St. Dominic are optimistic about the school fielding a team in the future, but they realize all of the work that it would take to make it happen.

“I think it would definitely be possible for St. Dominic to field a team in the future,” said Koffman.

There is no doubt that a hockey team would have the full support of the student body. Most of the students and faculty love hockey, especially the Blues. It may be a long road, but hopefully St. Dominic will have a team of its own one day.