Ice Flyers To Begin Season With Revamped Team, Renewed Excitement
By Bill Vilona
Ice Flyers.com correspondent
Once Greg Smith knew during the summer that he was joining the Pensacola Ice Flyers, a rapid preparation began.
A year ago, the 6-foot-1 forward was preparing for his senior season at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The preseason was an extended process in college. Not so, however, at the professional level.
“Our training camp would have started a month ago,” said Smith, laughing, as he prepared his equipment before the Ice Flyers began their one-week training camp Oct. 7. “You have to be ready when you get here.”
He’s ready now. So are his teammates, as the Ice Flyers prepare for their season-opener on Saturday against the Huntsville Havoc at the Pensacola Bay Center.
The Southern Professional Hockey League has a quick training camp period, which includes an optional exhibition game on the weekend before the season begins. The Ice Flyers had their game last Saturday on the road against the Birmingham Bulls.
“You have to prepare differently, so I did that at home (in Ontario),” Smith said. “In college, you’re there in school, you start training camp and it’s a month before games.”
Smith is one of a majority of new faces that Ice Flyers fans will see on opening night. He played six games for the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs last season after college graduation.
Another new face will be forward Tyler Adams, who played college hockey at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, then had a stint two seasons ago with the Savannah Ghost Pirates in the ECHL.
“It’s definitely a quick turnover at this level,” Adams said. “The whole key is getting comfortable with everyone as quick as you can and trying get on the same page.
“You start a lot earlier in college and you’re with everyone there for four or five years. There are a lot of new faces on this year’s (Ice Flyers) team, so I am sure it will take time for everyone to get used to each other. But good teams always pull through that.”
That’s exactly the quest Ice Flyers coach Gary Graham sought when he assembled this year’s revamped team. He had to make a lot of difficult decisions on several players, like former captain Garrett Milan, who is now playing for the new Athens (Ga.) Rock Lobsters in the Federal Prospects Hockey League with former player Malik Johnson.
The returning players in training camp were a group that includes forwards Ivan Bondarenko, Matt Wiesner, Sean Gulka and defensemen, Cory Dennis, Jake Hamilton, Jordan Henderson and Troy Button. The goaltenders will both be newcomers.
Rosters in the SPHL are a fluid situation at this point. Moves can be made through Friday and then again after the first weekend of the season.
“We looked at everything,” Graham said in making roster decisions. “But I feel like we have upgraded with every single position on the ice. I feel like we have gone from here to there (hand motion) across the board.
“Now the challenge will be with so many new parts is getting it all on the same page, getting the culture set right away. So the Buttons, the Bondarenkos, the Hendersons, the Dennises, the Hamiltons, they have to set that standard. They are all here for the right reasons to win a championship and turn this thing around, so I am really excited about the possibilities. But like anything, it is not going to be easy.”
Graham feels more prepared this season. A year ago, upon returning to the Ice Flyers and the SPHL after a 10-year gap as coach, he was scrambling to fill the Ice Flyers roster after a bulk of the top free agent players had signed with other teams.
“What I found out last year was just hard it was to really improve your team during the season,” Graham said. “I really wanted to make that group work. They were a great group of guys. They worked hard in practice, there was nothing about that.
“It just wasn’t the right group. And there is a certain type of player who works well with my coaching style, and you have to find that kind of player.”
This year’s start to the Ice Flyers season is a favorable beginning. After Saturday’s game, the next game is Oct. 25 at Huntsville, followed by the following night at home against Birmingham. Graham likes the fact his team will face a strong team – the Havoc reached the SPHL President’s Cup Finals last season – then their nearest rival in back-to-back weekends.
“Huntsville has a good-looking roster, Birmingham has a good-looking roster,” Graham said. “What I learned is this league is deeper with talent.
“Anybody can beat anybody in this league on a given night and that’s what you want. You definitely want that parity.”
The Ice Flyers had 23 players in training camp a week ago. But 12 other players Graham recruited were in ECHL training camps. So, there will be fluidity with the roster.
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Ice Flyers Opening Night Presented by Florida Blue
WHEN: Saturday, 7:05 p.m.
WHO: Huntsville Havoc vs. Ice Flyers
WHERE: Pensacola Bay Center
PROMOTION: Opening Night presented by Florida Blue. First 1,500 fans will receive a 2024-25 magnet schedule.
RADIO: Fox Sports-Pensacola (101.FM, 1450 AM), Voice of Ice Flyers Paul Chestnutt broadcasting.
TICKETS: Available at www.iceflyers.com/tickets. Or at the Bay Center box office.
