Club Hockey at MIT

[mabramovich]

So for a Canadian like me, hockey is very important, even if I suck at it

Does MIT have (men's) club hockey? Their club sports site for ice hockey seems to link to the varsity hockey page, but surely a university with 10K students must have some form of low-stakes play-for-fun ice hockey going on, right?

Would anyone happen to know? Thanks.

[neuropsychosocial]

Does MIT have (men's) club hockey? Their club sports site for ice hockey seems to link to the varsity hockey page, but surely a university with 10K students must have some form of low-stakes play-for-fun ice hockey going on, right?

I believe - although I'm not quite sure about all the details - that MIT "demoted" their men's varsity hockey team to club status a few years ago, which means that the club team is probably very competitive. In the U.S., "club teams" often travel frequently to play other schools. "Recreational sports" or "intramural" sports are the "let's put ten people on a basketball court, run around for 20 minutes without a ref, and whoever scores 30 points first wins" teams. It sounds more like you're looking for intramural than club hockey. MIT definitely has men's IM hockey, both in winter semester and in IAP, the short term between fall and winter. They also have "open rec hockey" two or three days a week at the MIT rink, which is a great facility IMHO (at least for a school of MIT's academic caliber that doesn't emphasize sports), and public skating every day. If none of those fit your desired level of hockey, the greater Boston area is covered in ice rinks, many of which have adult recreational leagues that range in competitiveness from "we played D1 hockey this decade but didn't make the NHL" to "we drink lots of beer while slowly cruising around a rink occasionally flipping a puck at each other" - and plenty of levels in between! The phone number for the IM office is 617-253-7947 and they would be able to tell you the details about IM hockey.

I forced myself to apply to graduate schools without considering the quality or quantity of local ice rinks, but it definitely factored into my final decision.

Edited February 24, 2011 by neuropsychosocial

[kdilks]

It's usually not the varsity team getting demoted to club status, it's usually more the varsity team getting cut and the existing club team takes over as the premiere program. Kind of the reverse of how people tend to think adding a varsity sport means the club team is getting a promotion, but it generally means they recruit new people for a varsity team and the club team stays intact.

But yeah, IM is definitely more of what you're looking for.

I forced myself to apply to graduate schools without considering the quality or quantity of local ice rinks, but it definitely factored into my final decision.

Berkeley got dinged a few points for shutting down their ice rink, and the fact that I probably could have made their top team.

[mabramovich]

It's usually not the varsity team getting demoted to club status, it's usually more the varsity team getting cut and the existing club team takes over as the premiere program. Kind of the reverse of how people tend to think adding a varsity sport means the club team is getting a promotion, but it generally means they recruit new people for a varsity team and the club team stays intact.

But yeah, IM is definitely more of what you're looking for.

Berkeley got dinged a few points for shutting down their ice rink, and the fact that I probably could have made their top team.

Thanks for your replies, guys. I actually thought 'club' was below intramural -- intramural at UofT we get 5 games per semester because the demand for ice time is so great, so I was looking for club to supplement my intramural hockey

I did find a league in Boston which seems to be just two teams playing against each other every week which I find pretty funny given that the mean's league I play in now in Toronto has something like 80+ teams in it across 12 divisions.

[kdilks]

Thanks for your replies, guys. I actually thought 'club' was below intramural -- intramural at UofT we get 5 games per semester because the demand for ice time is so great, so I was looking for club to supplement my intramural hockey

I did find a league in Boston which seems to be just two teams playing against each other every week which I find pretty funny given that the men's league I play in now in Toronto has something like 80+ teams in it across 12 divisions.

So I'm guessing you didn't find the league in Boston with 80 different divisions?

http://www.neshl.com/