Hockey Club Builds Community

In many ways, Sarasota Rampage hockey is a tight-knit community, even if its players are from all over Sarasota and Manatee counties and moved here from other parts of the country.

A Sarasota High School student will play against a Manatee High School player one week, then be his teammate another. Or a retired professional hockey player running a team in a junior league might offer some coaching advice to the high school hockey staff. Or it’s the eighth grade student who’s not even on the team and designed a new team Web site.

“Hockey people are different,” Sarasota Rampage head coach Tony Rochette told Patch. “They’re very approachable. I don’t think the egos are so big where NFL players are so big you can’t approach them or talk.”

The team, which plays in the Lightning Conference in the Florida High School Hockey Association, has its home games at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex, just north of the Ellenton Premium Outlets. The provides organizational, fundraising and marketing support for the conference. 

The team is just four years old, but this year but the Rampage hopes cohesive team play can knock down the door for the playoffs. The last two years they missed out by one point.

The team believes it can finally get over the hump. 

“We have a shot this year making the playoffs and could go really far,” said Marcus Peacock, 18, of North Port, and student. “I don’t know what our chances are of going all the way, but there is a chance.” 

The team sits in fourth place in the Central Division in the Lightning Conference, and has five games left in the season to solidify that spot. The final home game is at 9:45 p.m., Feb. 10 at Ellenton Ice.

Students who attend Sarasota high schools — public and private — play on the team, which means you may have someone like Alec Zec, 17 of Bradenton on the team filled with players from Sarasota, North Port, Venice and other Sarasota County locales.

Zec attends and is a Bradenton native. The winger started playing when he was in eighth grade and says it’s hard playing against people who grew up with hockey in a traditional market. He’s now 17 and says there’s a lot of skill on the ice on Florida.

But said the beauty of the high school league is the parity.

“That’s what makes high school so interesting,” said the 40-year-old Sarasota native by way of Quebec. “You have freshman playing — they come out of rec league and they go to high school hockey and playing a junior A player that’s a senior.”

Goalie Nik Foresteire, 18 of North Port, is a Massachusetts native and is impressed with the product in the Sunshine State.

“I think that it’s a very underrated state for hockey,” the Venice High School student said. “I think there’s a lot of hidden talent here that’s not so much looked at as it would be up north.”

Then you have Kelly Nicholson, 17, of Sarasota. The defenseman is the only girl on the team. She’s respected, her coach says, and is a solid player. 

“Kelly, she’s tough as nails,” Rochette said. “The other team respects her for the most part. There’s always some idiot that will go after her.” 

The Cardinal Mooney student grew up in St. Louis where she played since 10 years old.

“It’s a sport my whole family plays, I know the game really well,” she said.

Logan Mahlock, 15 of Sarasota, also has a situation common in high school hockey. The student and defenseman plays for a travel team at the rink called the Gulf Coast Flames, which includes players that he’s battling against on his high school teams.

He likes the set up of the geographical make-up of teams that include players from high schools throughout the county.

“You meet a lot of people you wouldn’t meet otherwise,” he said.

Rochette echoed those thoughts. 

“You have teammates that play travel hockey together that play for different high schools. That’s always interesting especially when we play against Manatee,” he said. “It’s their same linemate but they get to play against each other.”

Given there are other commitments, the team doesn’t always have a full bench, and are looking for players for next year. There might be hockey players out there who just moved here with their family that doesn’t know about the team yet, or someone who will be a high school freshman next year that’s ready to make the next step, Rochette said.

Players interested in joining can visit SarasotaHockey.com and click Contact Us or fill out a registration on the Lightning Conference Web site by visiting this link.

Even Rochette didn’t know there was a rink in Ellenton until he saw a neighbor walk out of a house with a hockey bag. That was in 2005. Rochette moved here in 1987 from Quebec where he had tried out for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League — the same league where years later, the highly touted Sidney Crosby would play and be drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Rochette’s pro aspirations ended when during tryouts for a Quebec major junior team, another player broke Rochette’s ankle with a stick, and sent him into the boards breaking his collarbone, and he’s re-energized playing again at the rink, running clinics and of course, coaching high school hockey. 

He hopes to take that energy into the playoffs, and knows regardless of where they players are from, what team they’re playing and what rink it is, they’re ready.

“It doesn’t matter what time it is,” he said. “They’re committed.”

 TEAM ROSTER

UPCOMING GAMES

Wharton vs. Sarasota 
Friday @ 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Ice Sports Forum Brandon

East Lake vs Sarasota 
Jan. 20 @ 9 to 10 p.m. Ice Sports Forum Brandon

Gaither/Sickles vs Sarasota 
Jan. 27 @ 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Skating Academy Oldsmar - North Rink

Mitchell  vs Sarasota 
Feb. 3 @ 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Skating Academy Oldsmar - North Rink

Freedom vs. Sarasota 
Feb. 10 @ 9:45 to 10:45 p.m. Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex