USA Hockey Adult Hockey

When it’s playoff time, Benny’s Pub adult hockey team really knows how to shine.

Benny’s Pub has advanced to the championship game of the Hagerstown (Md.) Adult Hockey League each of the last three seasons and won two titles.

“We’re like a middle-of-the-pack team during the regular season, and then after that we kind of turn it on in the playoffs,” captain Rob Edmonds said.

There are two seasons each year at the Hagerstown Ice & Sports Complex, and Benny’s Pub won the top league title in the fall 2014 season, placed second in winter 2015 and won it all in fall 2015.

“Some of the guys that are kind of role players, they’ll step up and say, ‘Hey, double-shift this guy or send me one shift’ to make sure we get the win if we have a late power play or penalty kill,” Edmonds said.

Assistant captain Josh Stears notes the guys do what they have to in the postseason to bring home a victory.

“I think everyone just plays a little different, it’s just like any sport,” Stears said. “Once you get into playoffs everyone is playing for a different reason.

“Our regular-season games don’t really count for anything. When it gets in the playoffs, it gets serious.”

Benny’s Pub is a competitive team that has been mostly together for the five years.

Some seasons it’s a little difficult to stay as a team since the league runs a draft. However, the majority of the core players are able to stay together.

“It’s important to have the guys you’ve played with for years,” said Stears, who is a police detective and uses playing in the adult league as a stress reliever. “You know each other and know how each other’s going to play. It works out.”

The team is comprised of guys in their mid-20s to early 40s with the median age in the mid-30s. It’s a group with quite a bit of skill. A couple of the team members played in college, and one guy played professionally in Sweden.

Benny’s Pub is a tight-knit group. The guys have gotten to know each other pretty well over the years on and off the ice. All the players get along away from the rink, which helps the on-ice chemistry, Edmonds notes.

“Just a great group of guys in the room,” said Edmonds, who is 35 years old. “Nobody complains about the amount of ice time they get. Everybody works together out there. We all hang out off the ice and all have become friends.”

“I didn’t know any of these guys outside of hockey prior to meeting them, but I would say that at this point they’re really good friends in my life,” added Stears, who is also 35.

It certainly helps friendships when the team is playing so well.

“You win championships together, and you just develop this bond with these guys,” Stears said. “Hockey’s like no other sport I think in that sense.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.