SSAA open hockey nights return

By Jackson Gallant

The Saints Student Athletic Association has put on a long list of recreational sporting events for St. Clair students and the returning open hockey nights are the latest addition. 

Taking place every Monday for the remainder of this semester at the Capri Recreation Complex, open hockey nights will take place so students can casually enjoy the thrill of playing in a hockey game without the stakes of a league. These nights have been running for a couple of weeks now and the response has been plentiful.  

“This is my second year being a part of this and its increased by, I guess it would be 300 per cent so far in the first two weeks of us doing this,” said SSAA president Eric Dominguez.  

Last year, they were averaging around 10 skaters a night and so far this year its been anywhere from 30 to 40.  

“Where we stand now we’re not even sure if we can keep the format that we have because we have the awesome problem of having too many people showing up to our events,” said Dominguez.  

The SSAA runs many different open sports nights for the purpose of giving students a free opportunity to enjoy the sports they once loved playing or just want to try out for the first time. One player who showed up this Monday decided to play a position he had never played.  

“I just came out with a friend, I used to play pond hockey a few years ago and I haven’t been on the ice since,” said Landon McManus. “I don’t have gear for regular players, so I was just like I’ll slap on the goalie gear and we’ll try it out.  

New St. Clair students are always welcome to come out to these open nights and there are no plans to stop them anytime soon. Dominguez urges anyone who is interested to just show up.  

“That’s the start,” said Dominguez. “It’s the simplest thing I’ve told anyone who’s wondering what to start at St. Clair sports wise. If you start showing up to things, you’ll get a better understanding of what you want to do at the college.  

Anyone is welcome to come out and play as long as they are a St. Clair student and have full hockey gear. If you might be interested, show up to the Capri Recreation Complex for 9 p.m. on Mondays.