Blizzard Team History

IN THE BEGINNING...

The New York Blizzard was formed in 2001 as an expansion team in the Chelsea Piers adult recreational ice hockey league at Sky Rink in New York City.

That January the rink had a large number of modestly experienced players looking for a team, so league officials brought them together to form a new squad called the Blizzard in Division 5, the fifth-highest of Sky Rink's six divisions.

These players, most of whom did not know one another, officially took the ice together for the first time on March 4th, 2001, for the team's inaugural game. Forty-five minutes later, the Blizzard had been thoroughly plowed over by the Leafs, 9-1. The high point was the first goal in team history, recorded by original team captain Tom Carmony, who scored on a breakaway midway through the game. Despite the tough loss, most players considered the game a building block for the future.

Unfortunately, that first game turned out to be a harbinger of the remainder of the season. The Blizzard proceeded to stink up D5 that spring, going 0-17-0 and getting outscored 178 to 12. When was the last time you saw a team ring up 15 goals in a hockey game? It happened twice that spring against the Blizzard.

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

Wisely, the Blizzard realized they were being outgunned, so the team decided to move down a division to D6. They made their D6 debut during the 2001 Summer 4-on-4 Tournament and enjoyed a breakthrough campaign highlighted by a three-game winning streak to open the tournament, a 4-4-0 record in round-robin play, and a spot in the tournament's playoff round.

Coming out of the summer tournament, hopes were high that the team would continue to improve during the regular Fall 2001 D6 campaign. That, however, was not the case, as the struggling Blizzard managed only two victories over the next two seasons.

TURNING A CORNER?

The Fall 2002 season was an historic one for the Blizzard. Despite the team's lack of on-ice success, interest in the Blizzard had grown so much that part of the team split off to form the nucleus of a second team, and for the first time in the organization's brief history, two Blizzard squads took the ice. The original Blizzard continued to compete in D6, while the new Blizzard team joined the league's newly-added Division 7, which Sky Rink had formed from its Developmental Division.

Though no one could have known it at the time, the split would prove beneficial for the entire organization. The D6 squad posted a 17-point improvement over the Spring season, finishing 7-7-3, good for 7th in the division and earning the team its first-ever playoff berth. The D7 Blizzard were even more successful, finishing their inaugural campaign 6-5-1 for the organization's first winning season.

WINNERS AT LAST

As the Sky Rink adult league continued to expand, so did the Blizzard. In the spring of 2005, a second Blizzard split took place as a portion of the D7 Blizzard team broke off to begin play in Sky Rink's new Division 8. Once again the split benefited both squads, as both the D7 and D8 teams posted 13-win seasons and reached the finals.

One season later, in the fall of 2005, the Blizzard claimed their first-ever Sky Rink title, winning the championship in both the D7 and D8 divisions. Fifteen players on the two squads had been with the Blizzard since at least 2003, and several of them had been with the team since its inception.

A REBUILDING EFFORT

In the fall of 2006, half of the Blizzard's championship-winning D8 team was promoted to the Blizzard D7 squad as the Blizzard joined forces with the D7 Imperials, a Sky Rink mainstay since 2000. When the Imperials dissolved, several former Imperials and several long-time members of the D7 Blizzard spun off to form a new D7 team called the Canucks (originally the Flyers), who would go on to win four straight D7 championships. The remaining Imperials joined the D8 Blizzard, replacing the players who had moved up to the Blizzard's D7 team. Several members of the D6 Blizzard would subsequently join the Blizzard D7 team to complete the shift, which represented a new beginning for all three Blizzard squads.

In the fall of 2007, a league realignment moved the D8 Blizzard up to Sky Rink's newly-formed D7B division, with the D7 Blizzard staying in the re-named Division 7A.

Today the Blizzard Hockey Club boasts more than 100 alumni and 60 active members, with teams in D6, D7A and D7B.

See a collection of Blizzard photos and videos in the Audio/Video section.