Last season, the men’s ice hockey team worked hard to give Bobcat fans something to cheer about, but this summer, the guys in blue and gold took some time off to rest, relax and regroup from a season that will go down in the Quinnipiac record books.
Far from Hamden, Conn., the team traveled to Italy and partook in exhibition games before sweeping the Challenge Cup Series against Asiago.
As part of the trip, the Bobcats did more than just play some hockey. Over the course of 11 days, they traveled the country and visited some of the historic sites Italy has to offer.
“My favorite part of the trip was the last days of the trip when we were in Rome,” captain Cory Hibbeler said. “I’d always wanted to see the Colosseum so I had been looking forward to it all summer. Seeing a city with as much history as Rome was a surreal experience, and it really made the trip for me.”
The journey gave Hibbeler and his teammates a chance to see another country, but it also provided much more – a chance to bond off of the ice. Even though this was already one of the team’s strengths, that didn’t stop anyone from growing together even more, according to Hibbeler.
“After all the excitement of last season, we were already a tight group, but the trip to Italy brought us even closer,” Hibbeler said. “As for this upcoming season, I think it can only help us. It is easy at parts of the season to get discouraged when bounces aren’t going your way. In times like those it is easy for a team to give up because they begin to doubt each other and then start straying away from the game plan. We aren’t going to have those doubts this season.”
The upcoming season is one to focus on bettering the team as a whole, so the memories made in Europe will only help to sustain good vibes in the locker room, even when the stress of the season weighs down. With the expectations Hibbeler has for his team, this dynamic is a necessity.
“Our mindset for this season is that last year wasn’t good enough,” Hibbeler said. “Last season was exciting, but we want to go to Philadelphia this year.”
From Italy during the summer to Alaska on Oct. 11 and 12 and Hibbeler’s hope for Philadelphia, the Bobcats will undoubtedly rack up the travelers’ miles this season.
To see more photos from the trip, click here.
