USA Hockey Adult Hockey

Ironman Tells All

Q and A with Tom Hendrix

Tom Hendrix

President, Gardens Ice House Adult Hockey League

Co-Founder, Vice President and General Manager, Gardens Ice House

Location: Laurel, Maryland

You can tell how passionate Tom Hendrix is about the game of hockey almost instantly. The warm, poetic tone and elaborate details in which the 64-year-old describes the sport would tug at the heart strings of anyone who’s ever laced up the skates—and even outsiders who are new to the game.

Hendrix was introduced to ice hockey by his neighbor, IHL defenseman Butch MacKay, in the mid 1950s. “His son gave me my first stitches, so I’ll always remember that,” he jokes. Little did he know it would be the beginning of a long love affair with the greatest sport on earth. Before settling into his current Columbia, Maryland, home back in the 90s, Hendrix moved around quite a bit, but he continued playing hockey everywhere he went—New York, Indianapolis, Maryland and Ohio, which included a four-year college career at Bowling Green State University. He has a long history in the game—and now he’s involved in more ways than ever.

Hendrix co-founded Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Maryland, almost two decades ago—and it’s thriving. Last season, the Gardens Ice House Adult Hockey League was 10th largest out of 615 leagues registered by USA Hockey across the nation, with a total of 1,754 players.

“Our mission statement is to keep the love of hockey alive with the adults,” Hendrix says.

Nobody embodies that spirit more than Hendrix, who was named the 2008 USA Hockey Ironman of the Year, an honor given to an American who’s demonstrated tireless commitment to the sport. We caught up with the Ironman to talk hockey.

AH: How did the Gardens Ice House even come about?

Tom Hendrix: We built the ice skating rink 17 years ago. The two of us met through adult hockey—Clai Carr and I. He played at Middlebury and I played in Columbia when I moved out [to Maryland], because they had an ice rink. That was one of the determining factors on where I was going to live or not.

AH: Was the plan to have adult hockey be a big part of your arena right from the get-go?

TH: When we built the rink, we decided that adult hockey was an important facet to the building. We’ve built the adult hockey league to where it’s at today, with 84 men’s/co-ed teams. During the winter we have four women’s teams. If you count it all up we probably service 1,700 to 1,800 people who love the game of hockey.

AH: And that’s something you take very personally …

TH: Yes. It’s very important to me. It always has been. Both my sons have played youth hockey and they both are currently participating in the game in the adult league. Hockey has been a very important part of our family and it continues to serve us to this day.

AH: Are you still involved at different levels of the game, outside of just running the facility?

TH: I love working with the beginner hockey programs. I love that. I get the old guys to come out and help. We try to calm the parents down before they get started. We try to teach the kids to love the game and try to make it more of a pond experience than a real regimented drill experience.

AH: We know about the benefits kids can take out of youth hockey. What’s the benefit for people to stay in hockey after youth and high school? What are the benefits of continuing to play in adult leagues?

TH: I believe it’s one of the true team sports out there. The camaraderie that you build with this will last as long as you’d like it to. Guys I played with almost 30 years ago—we’re always in contact via email. It’s a real tight relationship that you get during that period of time. With all the pressures put upon people in today’s world, this gives us an opportunity to put a bunch of guys together to sit, laugh, go out and play and try hard with each other. As a group, you get together in the locker room and just sit around and tell stories. It’s like a campfire. That’s what makes it good. That’s why these guys do it.

AH: The locker room really is a special place for hockey players.

TH: We have to have our time afterwards to sit around and talk. I don’t think there’s enough of that today, face to face, with all the electronics out today. I think that’s what the game really brings to us.

AH: It must have been quite an honor for you to win the USA Hockey Ironman of the Year award in 2008.

TH: That was a surprise. It was the last thing I had ever expected. I have the award hanging up here and I share it with everybody. But it’s really the group you have around you. It’s the people you work with and have show up that make you want to come back and not give up on them. I’m lucky enough to provide people the opportunity for a place to come to and a place to be greeted.

AH: What does adult hockey do for you?

TH: It’s about people getting together and enjoying each other’s company and sharing their feelings. The love of the game brings them to this. They love to get out there, myself included. I’m just one of the old guys. We just sit out there and laugh.

AH: And you still play?

TH: Today, at 64 years old, I continue to play. We have this pickup group that goes on Mondays and Wednesdays here. It’s most of the guys I’ve played with in the past and over the years. We’re still playing together. It’s called the Gerihatricks. We have guys out here who’ve played high-level hockey.

AH: How’s your game looking?

TH: Everybody tells me how great my game looks. I think they lie to me since I own the rink. And that’s OK! I don’t mind to be patted on the back.

AH: Do you ever think about your entire hockey career and experiences in the game?

TH: I look back on it and I’m just one of the luckiest guys there ever has been to be able to continue to play as long as I have and be able to have a business that allows me to have the opportunity to bring the game to other people. It’s a blessing.

AH: What about the future of adult hockey?

TH: Hopefully the new kids coming on board and the new adults who will take over from us will understand what it’s all about and will enjoy it for what it is. There’s nothing like skating. There’s nothing like skating with a hockey stick. There’s nothing like shooting. There’s nothing like making that pass to your buddy. That’s the enjoyment of the game.