Erin go backcheck: Irish national team eyes higher standing
They are construction workers and bankers, electricians and proprietors. They are short and tall, heavy and thin, even Catholic and Protestant, side by side and working toward a common goal.
They are the members of the Irish National Hockey Team, ranked 44th in the 45-team world of international ice hockey.
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"We’re a pretty passionate group of guys," said team president Cliff Saunders, 35. "I know we’re not the most skilled, but the passion is there. And in a few years, and with the right facilities, I reckon that we’ll be a team people are talking about."
Yes, they play hockey in Ireland. And it is not field hockey, air hockey or even tonsil hockey, the latter of which often results internationally after men and women hoist a few pints together. Ireland has competed in the last two World Championships held by the International Ice Hockey Federation, albeit in Division 3, the lowest in the world.
The other teams in Ireland’s international class: Mexico, Turkey, Iceland and Armenia, the latter of which is the lowest-ranked team in the world (No. 45) and which Ireland defeated, 15-1, for its first-ever international victory in 2004.
Naturally, the game was played on St. Patrick’s Day.
Said Tony Griffin, formerly a player and now one of the Irish coaches: "What a day that was. And they scored the first (expletive deleted) goal."
If all of this sounds like some club rugby team that uses sports as an excuse to party, think again. On Wednesday, Team Ireland arrived in Boston for what will be its most intense training week in preparation for the 2006 World Championships, to be played in Reykjavik, Iceland, next spring. The players paid their own way to Boston, where Ireland has an array of practices and scrimmages scheduled at Buckingham, Browne and Nichols, the Belmont Hill School and Harvard University.
Those schools, thanks to the assistance of former Harvard hockey standout Scott Fusco, donated ice time to the Irish National Team, which is coached by former NHL assistant Jim Tibbetts.
Said Tibbetts, speaking seriously: "They might have more ice time here (in one week) than they’ll get all year (in Ireland)."
An exaggeration? Not entirely. According to Saunders, there are just two rinks in their country, both in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Many players commute roughly two hours from the Dublin area for slightly more than an hour of ice time, then commute the two hours back to return to their jobs and families. Predictably, personal and professional demands frequently prevent many of the players from practicing together.
But on this one-week trip (the team leaves Wednesday), the Irish are united in every way imaginable. Players from Northern Ireland and Ireland share the same locker room and uniform - "The peace process is working," said Griffin - and all because they share a hope that Ireland can someday participate in qualifying games for the Olympics and, perhaps, beyond.
Indeed, their greatest challenge now is to build a rink in the Dublin area, something the Irish government has resisted. And so Saunders, Griffin and their brethren now are focused on building their own private facility so that Ireland can continue building toward a greater goal.
"They’re all looking for the same thing," said Griffin.
