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The spirit of the ice
By JULIE CHURCH, Times Staff Writer OLDSMAR -- Don't tell Cheryl Buchs she can't play hockey with the guys. Buchs, 33, first picked up a hockey stick as a child near Detroit. "I grew up in a neighborhood full of boys, and hockey was what we did," she said. She has played ever since. But unlike the American women who will play tonight for the gold medal in hockey in Salt Lake City, Buchs has always competed against the boys. She went out for her high school team but was turned away.
The Blades play in a men's novice league Oldsmar. They play as rough as the guys. And they win. In December, they won their division fall championship. So far in the spring season they are 4-1. As important to the Blades is how they play as a team. "There are a lot of emotions at play when women play together," Buchs said. "We want aggressive players, but we'd rather have someone willing to learn who gets along with the team, than someone who has the skills but has a bad attitude." Buchs founded the team after moving to Florida in 1993. The first season, when the team, known then as the Lady Lightning, played at Sun Blades ice skating rink in Clearwater, it lost every game, once by a score of 25-0. "We got our butts kicked, basically," she said. The following season, the team was asked to split up and join other teams. They refused. "They would never ask a men's team to do that," she said. So the women left Sun Blades and moved to the Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar. After awhile, Buchs came to see the game differently than some of her teammates. "Some of the women just wanted to tool around and pretend to play hockey, and that just wasn't for me," she said. "I wanted a team where we could really focus and get stronger together." So Buchs and a few other women began to seek players who got along well and who wanted to win. Blades players range from 14 to 49 and from petite to stocky. "When you are out there on the ice, you're not ladies or men -- you're hockey players," said Carrie Kosiba, 38, of Hudson, who works for the Pasco County utilities department. Coach Robert Thomas, a hauling company owner from St. Petersburg, joined the Blades three years ago. "I had coached and played hockey for years, but I really had to change my style with this team," he said. "I don't care what you say, women are just more emotional than men. But they also bond and work together as a team great. They're like a family." Thomas, 40, who coached men's hockey at Temple University, stressed the basics. But the team also started playing more aggressively. "When we lose, it's because we're muscled out, not because we're outplayed," he said. "We play tough."
That doesn't sit well with some opponents who say the Blades play dirty. Thomas disagrees. "This is hockey. This is a rough sport," he said. "What we do is play like the men, and in men's hockey, if the ref doesn't call it, it's fair." Most of the opposing men's and co-ed teams are supportive, Buchs said. "A lot of them respect us now, but some guys have really fragile egos." A few men who play against the Blades have a bit of a double standard, said John Soderman, director of Tampa Bay Skating Academy's adult hockey leagues. "They get frustrated that they're getting beaten by women, and they feel if women play aggressively, it's not playing fair," he said. "But I've watched them play and I've filled in against them, and they play good hockey." At a recent Blades scrimmage, it was hard at first to distinguish women from men. Similar pads. Same skates. Same equipment. But the women give a great deal of encouragement to teammates, shouting "You go girl!" and "Go get 'em! You can do it," as players jump the rink wall for line changes. C.J. Taylor, 49, played for the Blades for more than five years before being sidelined by a neck injury 18 months ago. "Women have to rely more on finesse," said Taylor, a Hudson grandmother who works as a nanny. "In men's hockey, so much emphasis is placed on fighting and checking, they lose sight of the skills of the game. Women have to be better stick handlers and rely on speed and agility." Along with playing in the men's league, the team also travels to four or five women's tournaments a year. In March, they plan to travel to a huge women's tournament in Brampton, Ontario, to defend their senior open division championship title. They would like to travel more, but it is expensive. Operating costs for the team average $17,000 per season. Tournament costs can be $1,000 or more per player. To help cover its expenses, the team has added a few men to its roster. Although the number of registered women players has grown from six in 1990 to more than 260 in 2001, Florida lags behind many northern states in the number of female players, said Cassy Maxton, media and public relations coordinator for USA Hockey, the national governing body for the sport. The Blades were the only women's team in the state for years, Buchs said. Since the 1998 Olympics, many more women are playing on co-ed teams, but Central Florida has no all-women's league. Chelsea Jaeger, 14, is the youngest player on the Blades. The Lakeland resident welcomes the chance to play with more experienced women. "They all treat me really well. They play rough but not dirty," she said. "They make me push myself and help me improve my skills." Chelsea, who also plays in two teen girls' leagues, has set her sights high: a spot on the U.S. women's Olympic team. But to compete at that level, she'll need to transfer to a northern prep school. "She has the ability to do it, but she has to get the heck out of Florida," Thomas said. The older Blades harbor no illusions about playing on future Olympic teams. But someday, they hope, an Olympic hopeful like Chelsea won't have to leave Florida to find the competition she needs.
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