USA Hockey Adult Hockey

Mike McGlinchy has been running an adult hockey team for 20 years, so he isn’t shy about laying down the rules for his players.

“One of my rules is, I don’t care who wins or loses, it doesn’t make any difference,” McGlinchy said. “We’re out to have fun. Every year, different people from different teams want to play with us because we just have fun.”

The team philosophy is essentially that simple. Having fun is the most important thing on the Plumbers & Pipefitters team, which plays in the B Division of the Fairbanks Men’s Hockey Association adult hockey league in Fairbanks, Alaska.

“I have some pretty strict rules,” said McGlinchy, who formed the team in 1996. “Every year at the end of the season I have asked the question, ‘Do you want to play together next year?’ Every year, all those guys have wanted to come back, because they’ve had such a good time. They’ve said, ‘This is what hockey’s all about.’”

There isn’t a lot of turnover in the Plumbers & Pipefitters. The team has a group of about seven or eight players who have been on the team for seven to eight years. McGlinchy, a mechanical contractor, is the only original team member left. During its infancy, the team was comprised of a number of individuals who were in the plumbing and pipefitting trade.

One of the longstanding members nowadays for the Plumbers & Pipefitters is Mike Richards, who has been on the squad for a decade.

“The main reason I play every year is the group of guys that we’ve got is just a good group — we get along good,” Richards said. “We’ve had years that we’ve won the whole thing and we’ve had years we placed last, and we’ve all said we’d rather place last and play on the same team than place first with some other team.”

Plumbers & Pipefitters have certainly had some success over the years. McGlinchy, who his teammates call the coach, said the team has won “at least three” championship in 20 years.

“Not because of talent, but because we play as a team,” Richards said.

The team has played well despite annually being the oldest group in the six- to eight-team division. McGlinchy is the senior leader at 64 and a few other players are in their 60s and 50s. Richards, who is 38, tips the scale on the younger end. Richards’ dad, Jerry, has played on the team longer than his son, and has been a staple on the team but doesn’t know if he’s playing this year. Another team member also has his dad playing on the Plumbers & Pipefitters.

“The old guys definitely are the reason we keep going … to play with them,” Richards said. “They’re the ones that started the team and have been around a long time and keep playing. If they left, our team would probably disband.”

It’s a tight group of guys on and off the ice. The team plays twice a week during league play and the players seem to never get sick of spending time together.

“There’s a lot of times we spend as much time hanging out in the locker room after the game as we did playing the game,” Richards said. “The next team will come in and play and get done and then the second game after that we’ll still be there BSing or talking about the game after it’s done. It’s just a good reason to kind of get away and relax.”

McGlinchy and his brother built the Polar Ice Center in North Pole, Alaska, which is where the majority of the Plumbers & Pipefitters play their games. The rink was constructed in 1999, and McGlinchy is credited as a big reason for the success of the adult hockey league in Fairbanks.

McGlinchy isn’t worried about recognition; he’s just happy to get out on the ice and be able to skate with friends.

“It’s just a blast,” McGlinchy said. “Everybody just gets along and we have a great time.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.