Ice hockey team misses 2 games due to suspension

The IU club ice hockey team was unable to make its trip to Fargo, N.D., for its two-game series against the North Dakota State men’s ice hockey team.

This wasn’t because of inclement weather up north or because the Bison had to cancel the two matches.

It was because the IU ice hockey team was suspended 10 days, starting Nov. 1, for failing to follow protocol set by IU’s Club Sports Federation in regard to its open tryouts and practices at the beginning of the season.

On Oct. 20, the governing body for IU ice hockey was officially informed of the infraction and the team would be suspended from Nov. 1 through Nov. 11, including all team-oriented activities, such as practice and the two games against North Dakota State.  

The suspension was not the result of any misconduct by any of the players on the team but instead just a bureaucratic mishap, junior assistant captain and team treasurer Kyle Yarkie said.

The team had no idea the penalty was coming previous to the notification from the CSF.

“We felt blindsided by the suspension,” Yarkie said. “The program has never been subject to any disciplinary action until this point. The entire organization was very disappointed by the University’s decision, but we openly admitted our mistake and are ready to move on with the season.”

Autumn Johnson, assistant director for club and intramural sports at IU, said the team and its executive board was very up front and honest about the infraction.

“I actually learned about it from them,” Johnson said. “But once we did find out about it, we told them ‘You do know that there has to be disciplinary action that we have to take.’”

The annual activation policy set by the CSF states that in order to begin every season, there has to be paperwork that every team affiliated with IU must fill out.

Team members must attend officer workshops and training workshops. They also must have a coach and the number of safety officers required for their sport before they can have tryouts or practice.

“And basically, the team just started their practices before all these requirements were met,” Johnson said.

With the two forfeited losses because of the suspension, the team drops to 4-11 as they take on No. 13 Iowa State on Friday and Saturday in Ames, Iowa. Although the team will be coming off two losses to No. 12 Illinois two weekends ago, along with a 10-day layoff, it will get a chance to hit the ice Friday for a morning skate.

The team members hope the time off will leave them with even more drive to knock off a ranked opponent.

“It’s going to be hard to turn the switch back on after a 10-day break, but we’re ready to get back on the ice,” Yarkie said. “We would rather be on our regular schedule, but the team is more anxious to play than usual — that’ll give us some jump Friday night.

"We’ve beaten good teams this year, but we were inconsistent through the first stretch. This weekend will be a turning point ­— a good chance to take two wins from a solid team in front of their fans.”