UK Hockey ties Indiana to end regular season

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By Sam Ranard

They don’t want to stop playing.

Perhaps, that’s why the UK Hockey team went into overtime for Senior Night on Saturday at the Lexington Ice Center. UK ended up tying Indiana 3-3 in its last regular season game. However, the seniors will have another attempt to end their UK careers with a win — as the Cool Cats prepare for postseason play.

The Cats are expected to play in the Southeast Regional Tournament, held in Wooster, Ohio, with the hopes of qualifying for the National Championships, as one of the top four teams from the regional tournament.

“We are looking solid for postseason play,” UK head coach Rob Docherty said. “If we want to win these guys are going to have to play a full 60 minutes of hockey every night.”

After his team played for a full 65 minutes on Saturday night, Docherty and the four seniors — Jordan Callaway, Pete Suber, Chris Protenic and John North — took time to reflect on their time together.

The class of seniors was the first class that Docherty has had for all four years under his wings. Docherty said while you can replace the people on the ice, it’s not always easy to replace them outside the ice.

“You can replace the player,” Docherty said. “But the person, you can’t replace.”

And for the players — like North — they might have to replace the ice and skates with an office and a computer as they graduate and leave their professional careers in limbo. North hopes to be drafted in the United States Hockey League draft held in May.

While he is unsure of his future, North is comfortable with the future of the Cool Cats, even saying that if they can get an arena closer to campus, the following will grow even more. If that is true, North said Big Blue Nation will have a talented squad to watch.

“The younger guys are annoying,” North said. “But, they’re good at hockey.”