After a successful reunion last year, the Lehigh ice hockey alumni will once again come back to campus to play a game with players of the current team. On Feb. 7, the Steel Ice Pub will host their second annual Alumni Game.
“The alumni game is a full-ice scrimmage with just the right amount of intensity,” junior Patrick Walgren said. “There’s no real hitting, but both teams still play hard, so there’s a solid level of competitiveness, with a healthy amount of trash talking throughout. The game is a fun way to reconnect with old friends and make new ones who played hockey at Lehigh over the past few decades.”
This weekend is a great reason and chance for alumni to come back to campus and get an opportunity to skate and play the game. Walgren said he was excited about the game and getting to see his old teammates.
“I’m most excited to see the graduated seniors of the last few years again,” Walgren said. “It’s so hard to stay in touch with everybody once they leave, and this is a good way to bring people back. It’s great to keep people involved with Lehigh hockey and a great way to grow the program.”
Last year, there was a significant turnout and the facility is more than expecting an even better turnout this weekend.
“(There was) a lot of good memories and fun, everybody got to skate that wanted to skate,” said Barbara Turanchik, an organizer of the event and Class of 1975 alumna. “They had a really close game and really went after it. They were definitely competitive, and they probably ached the next day, but they went after that puck hard.”
There were 80 alumni that participated in last year’s game, ages ranging from 22-62, with the oldest Lehigh class to be represented being 1974. The club game, which is the night before, had 15 alumni. Saturday’s game had 80 alumni with about 125 people in total at event, including families that are invited to watch the game. This year, Turanchik said there are a lot of repeat alumni.
Turanchik also mentioned the Bill Maloney Foundation, which was was created to keep ice hockey alive at Lehigh.
“Bill Maloney has an endowment for the ice hockey program, giving funds to make sure program can continue,” Turanchik said. “(The fund has been around for) 10 years, and proceeds (of the game) go to the Maloney endowment.”
Maloney received his Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering at Lehigh in 1980, and began a career in the drilling business with water supply contractor Layne – New York Company. In 2010, Maloney helped to develop the plan that rescued the 33 trapped Chilean miners. That plan, which came to be known as Plan B, was one of three rescue attempts approved by the Chilean government.
The game is Feb. 7 at 1 p.m.
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