Bedlam at Planet Ice

Disco lights danced across the ice floor, their soundtrack the rock guitar of Slash, as Planet Ice reached fever pitch. Chants of “fuck off Warwick” filled the arena, drowning the Warwick faithful in a wave of noise as the noisy neighbours lived up to their billing.

“All rise for the national anthem”. It was a jarring request that felt wholly out of keeping with the delirium that had come before, yet typified what was an electric, dizzying and frequently bizarre night of ice hockey in this memorable Varsity curtain-raiser. The bemused crowd stood one-by-one and eventually went along with it well enough – then, in an instant, Slash returned. Welcome to the jungle.

The frenetic pace of hockey was set within seconds as a Coventry player clattered into his opponent, the crowd duly responding with a cacophony of jeers. Those unacquainted with the ferocity of ice hockey were jolted upright – if Guns N’ Roses hadn’t got you going, that was sure to work.

But for the POP!-like atmosphere of OutKast and The Fratellis, a long night seemed certain for #TeamWarwick

In the fourteenth second, Cov scored. The speed and dribbling of Cov’s number 18 Ross Weiler proved too much for the Warwick defence, as chants of ‘fuck off Warwick’ rang louder than before. It was not to be the last time that Warwick failed to cope with the no. 18; even to an untrained eye it soon became apparent he was a cut above the rest.

Within seven minutes, Weiler had his hat-trick. Already Cov’s lead looked unassailable; Warwick’s support were in shock, the players dumbfounded. But for the POP!-like atmosphere of OutKast and The Fratellis, a long night seemed certain for #TeamWarwick. As if caught singing along, Warwick conceded two more. The announcer was interrupted by yet another score to make it six, in a moment emblematic of the first-period performance. Shambolic barely covered it.

Yet the Warwick faithful remained buoyant, chants of ‘let’s go Warwick’ building in volume, part in defiance, part in desperation. Jack Meadows responded to the call, scrapping the puck into the net to the surprise of supporter and player alike. Was the comeback of all comebacks on?

Brilliant music, an electric atmosphere and some end-to-end hockey, this was as good a Varsity opener as they come

Sadly not. Despite a much improved performance in the second and third periods, Cov remained the better side as the gifted Weiler continued to shine. It would, though, be amiss to suggest the only moment Warwick enjoyed in this 18-8 battering was Teddy the bear’s triumph over Tusky the elephant in a bizarre, though by then entirely unsurprising, mascot race. In truth, we didn’t really even win that – the nonpartisan Froggy the frog pipping Teddy to the post.

For there were some great moments here for #TeamWarwick. Wrestling a Cov player to the ground and a hat-trick capped off a fantastic performance from number 94 Ryan Jones. Warwick’s no. 8, too, put in a contender for player-of-the-match performance in goal, serving as an impassable wall in the second period. The same period saw the best moment of them all, where a timely Warwick goal stopped the insufferable ‘Icelandic chant’ of the poly in its tracks. Brilliant music, an electric atmosphere and some end-to-end hockey, this was as good a Varsity opener as they come.