Special to usahockey.com
Ryan Lessnau didn’t exactly play a game of “Eenie Meenie Mynie Moe” to determine where he wanted to settle after his playing career ended.
“I knew I didn’t want to stay in Detroit, so it was either Atlanta, Hawaii or Nashville,” said Lessnau, who played forward for four years at Bentley College before graduating in 2006.
Now a full 10 months into his first post-college gig as director of hockey at Southern Ice in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tenn., Lessnau holds the important role of helping to develop the adult ranks in town.
So far, so good. Southern Ice has an all-time high of 12 teams in its recreational C League.
“Adult hockey is on the rise in Nashville,” said Lessnau, who moved to Southfield, Mich., as a youngster and played for the Compuware Ambassadors until he went off to school at Bentley. “People are moving into the area who played hockey in their previous hometown, and Nashville’s growing a lot. It’s a combination of a couple of things. The youth program here is growing, and dads are getting into it and end up playing in the adult league.”
Lessnau has also helped to formalize a traveling A-League team. So far this year, the squad, which includes former minor pro and former college players, has won A-level tournaments in Indianapolis and Nashville. Next up on the schedule for the Southern Ice A-League team is a trip to Montreal for a tournament. The squad also squares off against local college club teams like Middle Tennessee State University.
Southern Ice, a two-sheet facility located 20 miles south of Nashville, offers year-round adult leagues, with fall/winter (September to April), spring (into late June) and summer (July and August) slates available. Including the regular-season and a playoff tournament, teams play 23 games for a $450 fee.
The rise in popularity of the C League has brought with it a variety of playing levels. Beginning this season Lessnau developed tiered divisions. Each team played the other 11 teams in a round-robin format to start the season, and the results helped formulate two divisions for the remainder of the season, starting in November.
“I wanted to try something to keep it fun and competitive for everybody,” Lessnau said. “It’s easy to lose interest if you’re on one end of the competitive spectrum or the other. Everyone wants to play against players that are similar in talent level, and the divisions will help that. The main focus is for the league to be fun and competitive.”
It’s been a winning recipe so far.
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
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