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Patriots Care for Each Other On and Off the Ice

01/11/2017, 12:00pm MST
By Greg Bates - Special to USAHockey.com

Arizona adult league team forms lifelong friendships

Lance Sefcik decide to give hockey a try about a decade ago when his son was old enough to play 8U. Ten years on, it’s safe to say it was one of his best decisions.

Sefcik now is more than just a player. He started the Patriots squad that plays in the AZ Ice (Peoria, Arizona) Adult Hockey League, and he still runs the team.

“As far as hockey goes, we’re true beginners,” Sefcik said. “Most of us have kids that have played, so we know when to yell when our kid’s out of position when we get out there — it’s kind of helter-skelter. But when you skate with the same guys for a couple seasons you get to know their tendencies and you get to feed off each other.”

Tony Costantino is an original member of the Patriots and loves skating with the group of guys on the team.

“Lance has always put a premium on guys who are good locker room guys and not a talent or ringer,” Costantino said. “As a result, over the years that’s really turned out to be the best experience — having good friends that people have made that they otherwise wouldn’t have made had they not played hockey.”

The team members that make up the Patriots are a unique set of players who love to have fun on the ice.

“You know what, if you put me in a room with these 14, 15 guys, we probably aren’t all friends because we’ve got everything from construction guys to a couple cops,” Sefcik said. “If we walked into the bar at the same [time], we wouldn’t be friends. But through the game of hockey, I’ve formed some lifelong friendships here.”

Those lifelong friendships translate into team chemistry. There are about eight original members on the Patriots who keep coming back season after season.

“Nobody wants to leave, because once they leave they know they’ve been replaced,” Sefcik said. “If they just want to take a season off, they know they want to get back into it. They love this locker room; we’ve got a quality group. To know that I’m going to be able to put a team together because I’ve got a strong 8-12 guys a season wanting to do it makes my job a little bit easier.”

Said Costantino: “It’s really what makes it enjoyable knowing that you’re playing with guys that you enjoy playing with and they’re not the guys who are going to be complaining in the locker room over silly things. We hear teams that are winning in other locker rooms and are fighting amongst themselves over plays or not getting a pass. You never hear that in our locker room.”

The Patriots have a saying in their locker room: “Don’t be that guy.”

“‘That guy’ can be a goon, a puck hog, someone who goes out and skates three-minute shifts,” Sefcik said. “Over time, because we all like each other, we don’t want to be ‘that guy’ even if it’s in us. Most of the time, we don’t have that character in the locker room. We enjoy going out and being competitive for a little bit and getting into the locker room and the camaraderie there. And just like the mites, we like the juice box afterwards.”

The guys on the Patriots range in age from the mid-30s to 60. The average is around 46 to 47.

The AZ Ice beginner league runs two seasons per year. The Patriots have enjoyed quite a bit of success over the years. In their 20 seasons, the team has captured about a dozen league championships. They have also won two Arizona Hockey Association state championships, the most recent coming in 2016.

“It’s because we have a group of guys that really like to be together, so we show up all the time. We’re held accountable that way,” said Sefcik, who is 47. “We’ve never had the most talented roster, but because we don’t show up for a playoff game with eight guys, we show up with 12 or 13, we can beat them. We’re talented guys who get tired.”

The Patriots have gone through their fair share of adversity over the years. They’ve had teammates who have been diagnosed with cancer and also passed away. But the Patriots players always rally as a team.

“The guys come together for families,” said the 50-year-old Costantino. “We’ve had people with children get in terrible accidents, and the team steps up to help them. It really is a giant support system.”

The Patriots recently lost a teammate and paid tribute to him on the ice. They then “passed the hat” and raised over $1,000 for the family.

“Those are the things that make me most proud about this group,” Sefcik said. “Everybody’s always willing to pitch in.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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