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Austin, TX - The cries of "Texas Fight!" will be heard at the Bat Cave this season, as the Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League host University of Texas men's hockey at the Travis County Expo Center. The Ice Bats and Longhorn hockey team will play double-headers on eight occasions, with the Longhorns taking the ice either immediately before or after Ice Bats home games.

It includes a Sunday, November 28th game against rival Texas A&M for the "Pride of Texas" Cup. The travelling trophy will go to the winner of an annual game between the rivals, to be hosted by the same school that hosts that year's football game.

"In our continuing effort to reach into the community, we are excited to host Longhorn hockey games this season," said Ice Bats
President Jeff Buch. "The University is a central part of Austin. We believe we can help create awareness for the UT men's hockey program, provide a venue to accommodate as many UT fans as possible, and give our fans a chance to see even more quality hockey entertainment. Hopefully, the end result will be the continued growth of the sport in this region."

The Longhorns are defending champions in their conference, College Hockey Southwest. The conference also includes Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Baylor Universities, as well as North Texas, Southern Methodist and Tulane. The Longhorns completed training camp in late August, and are now preparing for their opening game on September 24th.

"We're looking forward to playing a share of our games at the Expo
Center, before a seasoned group of hockey fans that appreciates the excitement of the game," said Robert Smith, the Longhorns' fourth-year Head Coach. "We know fans will enjoy seeing good, solid amateur hockey played between nationally-ranked college teams."

"Our goal is to create more interest and awareness for UT hockey," said Longhorns Assistant Coach Keith O'Brien, who has appeared in games for the Ice Bats in six of the past seven seasons. "We'll be able to bring more people into the stands, and raise our program to the highest level possible."

Yeah. My roommate actually played for them a few years back. They started out I think as roller hocky, then moved up to ice hockey so they could be in a collegiate league (club level). I think they're actually pretty good too.

Yep...Ive gone to a few games...

They did start out as roller hockey then after 4 years they moved to ice in 2000

We're in a conference with A&M, Tech, Texas, UNT, Baylor, and added Tulane and Oklahoma State this year. They play in the CHSW. (College Hockey Southwest) http://www.collegehockeysouthwest.com/ is the CHSW website

Their website is http://people.smu.edu/hockey/ but nothing has been updated since last year. I do know for a fact Baylor is the WORST team ever. I remember last season we beat them 20-2 in one game. That was the biggest they have ever lost. We were an average team last year. Finishing 4-5-1. Atleast we werent like Baylor who didnt win a game all year

I do love our logo...

and/or

Wellllll, "Puck".

I did not know that-- go Ice 'Stangs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the late 70's (& perhaps later), SMU's hockey club was dominant in play out of the rink down at Fair Park. They had a few European players (I think they were profs) and northern kids who could really play. This of course was before the Stars and the growth of hockey in the Dallas area.

Ah, yes...the ol' Fair Park Coliseum (the old green building behind the Cotton Bowl) is where I learned to drink beer in mass quantities! I'd go watch the Dallas Blackhawks for $2 (cheap seats) and some nights they had QUARTER BEER NITE! You'd get a large Dixie cup of beer for 25 cents. As a starving college student, $5 was a good night on the ice!

MrMustang1965 wrote:Ah, yes...the ol' Fair Park Coliseum (the old green building behind the Cotton Bowl) is where I learned to drink beer in mass quantities! I'd go watch the Dallas Blackhawks for $2 (cheap seats) and some nights they had QUARTER BEER NITE! You'd get a large Dixie cup of beer for 25 cents. As a starving college student, $5 was a good night on the ice!

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MrMustang, it was a good time. I remember 1 game when Dallas played FW... and a fight broke out between just the FW players (skating off the ice)!!! Sounds like something SMU v. TCU would try!

This Friday, November 12th is Capital Metro “Antenna Puck” Night, with free antenna pucks to go to 5,000 fans. The UT men’s hockey team will face Southern Methodist University after the Ice Bats game in Austin.

With no Dallas Stars, college hockey is the only game in town. Have fun.

Found this on our Conference's Webpage though ya'll might want to read it.

http://www.ichl.org/history.asp

"College ice hockey in Texas is not really a new idea. It is one that just never fully developed until the last few years. Schools like Texas A&M, Southern Methodist University and University of Houston had teams that played each other in organized games in the early 1980's. Due to the small number of rinks, small number of experienced players and the fact that ice hockey as a major sport was virtually unknown in this part of the country, it never really became officially organized and so never was consistently played or recognized as a collegiate level sport. Teams got together off and on over the next fifteen years and played informally or played in local men's leagues, but the sport never really took off.
In 1993, the Minnesota North Stars made a bold and highly controversial decision and moved its NHL team to Dallas, Texas. The only other team to make such a move up until that time was the Los Angeles Kings. Although a huge loss for Minnesota, the south central United States will be forever grateful for that decision. It brought a wonderful new sport to the traditionally football oriented part of the country. Fans did not understand the game or its rules and quickly picked up on the violent aspects since the physical contact of football was something they understood. The moving of the team to Dallas brought about the beginning of explosive growth in youth and adult hockey programs in Texas and the south. By the mid 1990's, some of the high schools in Texas, in the larger communities, had intramural and club level hockey teams that were playing regularly. The interest in ice hockey was growing and the demand for ice time was out pacing the building of ice rinks. Youth and high schools were playing and practicing late at night and very early in the mornings. The colleges still did not have any truly organized league. In the late 1990's this would change with the actions of two high school hockey players.

The History of the Intercollegiate Hockey League - ICHL

Two students that graduated from high school in the Houston area, and had played in the newly formed and growing ISHL, Houston high school hockey league, formed the ICHL in 1998. These two students, Brian Edge and Daniel Sneed, realized that there was not any competitive ice hockey at the college level and decided to try to organize a league. They contacted friends that had graduated and were going to other schools and found that there was an interest in organizing college ice hockey teams from several schools. They contacted Bill Justice, President of the ISHL and Chairman of the ISHA (the ISHL parent organization) and he agreed to help them by forming a non-profit corporate entity, similar to the ISHL, under the ISHA, for the college league. As a result, the ICHL was officially born! It was decided that Bill Justice would be President of the new league. He held the charter for the organization and controlled the finances, but told Brian and Daniel that since he was busy with the ISHL and the ISHA; they would have to take responsibility for forming, organizing and running the ICHL.
Brian and Daniel quickly went to work and spent countless hours contacting persons, organizing and coordinating the new league. They were assisted by team representatives from each of the participating school teams. Most of the players in the league were roller hockey players that also wanted to play ice hockey. The skill level was not extremely high, but it was a start. The league had its share of problems, as any new organization would have. The league had to cut its first two seasons short due to players leaving teams or teams disbanding before the end of the planned seasons during those years. This was a minor setback, but Brian and Daniel kept on and remained undaunted in their efforts to keep the league going.

You can read the rest if you want to at the link at the top

I'm glad this got posted, because I knew nothing about this. I see SMU plays Okie State at the Dr. Pepper Star Center in Duncanville this Saturday night. They also play Texas Tech at the Frisco Star Center this Friday night at 9:15 pm.