It’s been over 20 years since Joe Carcerano, Mike Sabatino and some of his buddies first started playing hockey together.
The guys had so much fun as youngsters they knew they had to team up as adults and continue the ride.
Carcerano and Sabatino are two of about 10 original members of the X-Bolts, who play in the A Division of the Rolling Meadows (Illinois) Adult Hockey League.
“It’s always good to lace them up and play with guys you’ve played with your whole life,” Carcerano said.
The guys skated together for the Tier II youth hockey program, Northwest Chargers. Their team jerseys featured a lightning bolt, so that’s where their adult team name was derived. X-Bolts — which features a line that’s been the same for over two decades with three forwards and two defensemen — are a tight-knit group.
“We all live within 10 miles of each other and we’re brothers,” Sabatino said. “We’ll stick up for one another and we’ve got each other’s backs.”
Said Carcerano: “Not to be cliché, but we’re like a family. A lot of us are like brothers to each other. It’s pretty important to us.”
Playing together for so long, the teammates know each other’s ability so well it can be scary. Their on-ice chemistry is like second nature.
“It’s kind of funny, you’re skating up the ice and you can do a spin-o-rama to a guy on the other side and not even have to look because you know he’s going to be there,” Sabatino said. “It’s like telepathy for us. We know where they are when we don’t even see them.”
A lot of the guys on X-Bolts went on to play juniors and college hockey at the Division I and II club levels. From there, they took their talents to the adult league and made an impact.
X-Bolts went two years straight, four sessions, winning the league championship. They came up short in spring session 2015, but rebounded strong and took home the title in fall 2015-16.
The Rolling Meadows Adult Hockey League is quite competitive. Next to Johnny’s IceHouse Adult League in Chicago, the league in Rolling Meadows is the second biggest, Sabatino said.
“A lot of other teams are local club teams that now have men’s teams, so we’ve been playing against them for 10, 15 years,” Carcerano said.
X-Bolts have brought their top seven players each of the last five years to compete in the annual Labatt Blue/USA Hockey Pond Hockey Championships in Eagle River, Wisconsin. The first four years, X-Bolts made it to the quarterfinals of the Silver 21+ Division, but could never get over the hump and win the championship. In 2016, the guys took home the title at Intermediate 21+, going 6-0 in the tournament. X-Bolts won the championship 1-0 over Cheeps.
“It’s fun to get away,” Carcerano said. “You wish you could bring your whole men’s league up.”
Playing in the Pond Hockey Championships for so many years, X-Bolts have learned what it takes to win. One thing they know is important is scoring goals and running up the score because every point counts toward playoff positioning.
The guys feel bad blowing out teams too badly on the pond. However, running up the score in the adult league?
“We might still do it back home, because we’ve still got that rivalry from playing back in youth hockey with all those guys,” Sabatino said. “We keep it pretty friendly back home.”
The guys on X-Bolts plan on playing adult hockey for another 30 years or more.
“We’re going to play until our legs give out, that’s for sure,” Sabatino said. “It’s everything to us. This is what we do. We love it and we won’t stop.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.