Ice Makers

Manatee Admirals hockey players haven’t cut their hair for months. They wear the same clothes to the rink each week for practice and games. And when they have home games, they always play a pickup game of soccer, followed by team dinners hosted by parents. 

Players Chase Bafia, 17, and Sean Hanlon, 18, admit the team is a bit superstitious, but it’s working. The Admirals are 23-0 this season.

The team of 20 players made up of students from Lakewood Ranch, Manatee and Palmetto high schools, as well as Inspiration Academy, is undefeated in the regular season, 21-0, and is headed to St. Louis March 19 to play for a national title. 

“We have our superstitions,” Hanlon said. “But we keep it light. We all get along, and we’re all in it to win it.”

And win they have. 

The Admirals, which play in the Tampa Bay Lightning Conference of the Florida High School Hockey Association with 17 other teams, went on to win the Lightning Cup Feb. 15, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, defeating the Mitchell Mustangs 10-3. 

The win secured the Admirals a berth in the Statewide Amateur Hockey of Florida State Tier 2 Championship, where the Admirals defeated the East Miami Mutts Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 in a best-of-three series by taking the first two games by scores of 10-1 and 8-1, respectively.

The state championship win gave the team a berth in the Tier 2 USA Hockey National Tournament in St. Louis, where the Admirals will play in an eastern conference tournament of 16 games with a chance to take home a national championship.

The Admirals, which lost in the Lightning Cup championship game last year, now have their sights set on a national title. And the team  believes it can bring home the trophy.

“We got the Lightning Cup,” said Hanlon, a senior at Lakewood Ranch High School. “But now we want more. We feel like we can play with anyone and we’re confident we can come home with a title.”

Playing with confidence

Half of the team also plays for a traveling hockey team called the Gulf Coast Flames, which gives the team a competitive edge when it comes to experience. 

“Our third line can play with most first and second lines,” Bafia said. “We have that much experience.”

The team, which calls the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex home, is dominant on both offense and defense.

This season, the Admirals scored 178 goals, and division opponents were only able to score 21 goals against them in the regular season. 

The team also only committed 171 penalty minutes. The league leader in penalty minutes this year had 411 minutes combined.

Admirals coach Eric Wessel, who helped put this team together two years ago, believes his team has a shot at a national championship.

“If these Florida kids played hockey even up North, I think they would still be successful,” Wessel said. “They’re a selfless bunch that’s hungry for more. I’m excited about their chances.”

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].