Hockey season is back in the Bluegrass and for night one the Lexington Ice Center was buzzing with energy from eager fans ready to fuel an electric atmosphere and support their team.

As with any sporting event, there are fans more passionate than others. Tears may fall and voices are bound to be lost, but no matter their level of passion, all fans share one goal: winning.

Within the rink’s charged environment, there’s a rhythm to the night. A shared pulse between players and fans. Cheers erupt, groans follow disappointing plays and screams of support echo through the stands.

Through all of that, cutting through all of that noise, one thing stands out: chirps.

A “chirp” is an insult thrown out, normally to a player, intended to throw them off their game. For some fans, psychological warfare is the weapon of choice.

Some rally up against the glass, ready to unleash their chirps at players speeding by or target the unmoving goalie 15 feet in front of them, hoping their words hit as hard as a body check.

Within the new world where “politically correctness” is consistently tossed around, that mentality seems to be thrown out the window when fans step into the ice rink.

With 12 guys on the ice consistently body-checking each other and fighting while hundreds of people scream down at them with a lust for aggression, things are bound to get ugly, both physically and verbally.

Trash talk is thrown out at any sports event, but it seems to be amplified in hockey, especially with the gladiator-like nature the sport presents.

All night there is a consistent cadence of the classics like, “F— you,” and, “You suck.” Those are reserved for the uninspired chirpers. Those not willing to be met out in the back parking lot and those who are unwilling to get physical at any point.

Others take it a step further.

While no fan was willing to go on a record saying their chirps, for obvious reasons, heinous things said from the Wildcat faithful made for a rowdy environment in the Lexington Ice Center for Kentucky’s opener.

Fans all night long could be heard hailing insults far more creative than normal with one fan telling Colorado’s goalkeeper, “You’re like a tampon; only good for one period,” or alluding to one of the player’s mother being the Buffalo mascot.

The mind games sometimes go further than just words, however, as fans can regularly be seen pounding on the glass during fights or following missed shots. The booming bangs are enough to disrupt the communication of even the most vocal players.

Some fans also rely on crude hand gestures, taunting motions and exaggerated reactions. These gestures send their own raw, unfiltered — not that the chirps are filtered in the first place — messages.

Oftentimes these gestures and chirps do cross lines as fans dig deep to get under a player’s skin, reminding everyone that, in hockey, the psychological game can be just as fierce as the physical one.

While players are told to simply tune out the fans, sometimes a chirp can be so brutal the player receiving it can’t help but react as was the case when one Buffalo was told his mother’s nether regions smell like roses, a comment that garnered a disappointed head shake.

At some point, questions have to arise surrounding how deeply the crowd chirps can actually impact a player’s performance on the ice. Or, better yet, if those words remain once the adrenaline of the game wears off.

Ultimately, the chirps are all in good fun — a part of the game — but it’s easy to imagine that words thrown carelessly but intentionally into the air during the heat of battle can play a major role in the results of the game and the psyche of the athletes receiving them.

While Kentucky did not come out on top in its season opener, it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of crowd fighting for it with every hostile statement and less-than-PG gesture.

In the end, hockey is more than just a game on the ice, it’s an intense, collective experience where players and fans alike feed off the energy, passion and, sometimes, the chaos.

Whether it’s the chirps, the glass-shaking or the gestures, the drama and emotions of sport is what attracts so many millions of fans around the globe. While things can get heated, at its core, it’s all about the love of the game and the ultimate pursuit of victory.