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Zach Frank fights off a Jamestown player close the glass during Ohio's game against Jamestown University on Oct. 6, 2017. The Bobcats lost 3-2. 

Hockey: Ohio rooted in traditions

Correction appended. 

Multiple banners hang in the rafters of Bird Arena, and each of them tells a story.

From the original white 1959 Ohio Inter-Collegiate Hockey championship banner, to its most recent, a 2013 Central States Collegiate Hockey League Tournament Champions commemoration, Ohio's excellence is well represented above its home ice.

With a storied tradition on the ice, and a history of antics off the ice, Ohio is a program deeply rooted in customs.

On ice

Ohio is known as a winning program. In its 60th season on the ice, Ohio has compiled a 1133-505-77. For most programs, it takes time to become revered, to always be in the spotlight. But not for the Bobcats. They won a championship in their second season as a team when John McComb was the head coach.

Coach Sean Hogan said culture is what makes Ohio’s winning tradition so rampant.

“What I’ve seen (especially this year) is that teams here don’t quit,” Hogan said. “This past weekend we could’ve thrown in the towel, but we didn’t, having that winning tradition in our corner helps.”

Ohio very well could have thrown in the towel this past weekend when they played Liberty on the road with only three available lines. Instead, the Bobcats swept the Flames with a pair of one goal wins.

To be successful on Friday and Saturday nights, they have to be successful Monday through Thursday during their practices. While only two hours, the practices are rigorous, with consistent skating and drills meant to build upon what the team does well and what they need to fix – a useful tool to help maintain the program's prestige.

“We practice like we play,” forward Gianni Evangelisti said. “We try to go hard in practice so we’re ready for the games.”

Practice isn’t always serious however. Once a month, the Bobcats play a game they call “mustache boy.” The entire team (coaches included) play a hockey version of the traditionally known basketball game “knock out.” 

In "mustache boy," there are two lines of skaters on either side of the net posts and the team does a shootout competition. The last person failing to score is the loser and has to grow a mustache for a month. The current loser? New assistant coach Dan Bremner.

“I’m like 26, 27 days in (on growing one).” Bremner said, while Hogan laughed in the background. “If I lose again, I’ll just make the goalies run.” 

Games like "mustache boy" remind the team that winning is what Ohio does, and it comes with ramifications; the team practices tense shootout situations while knowing that there is a loser at the end of it.

Off ice

Ohio is rich in its off-ice traditions as well, starting in the locker room.

Perhaps the Bobcats most notorious tradition is the “sweep song,” which is performed by the ensemble chorus that consists of the players. After Saturday night games that clinch a weekend sweep, the team belts out the lyrics to what might be the team’s favorite song.

“The sweep song is an Ohio hockey thing,” Hogan said. When asked for the lyrics of the song the coach replied, “I can’t tell you, it’s a secret – that’s just for Ohio hockey.”

Along with the sweep song, members of the team do what’s called “breaking the stick,” which is exactly what it sounds like.

“We just find sticks lying around and break them,” former player and current assistant coach Mike Harris said. “Find a stick that’s broken and break it more. It fires up the boys.”

To do the sweep song and break the stick, however, Ohio has to start on the right foot on both nights, and it does that by doing the “bad touch dance.” Started by Harris’ graduating class, the team dances to the song called “The Bad Touch” by the Bloodhound Gang before its games. Released in the late 1990s and used in the sci-fi action movie “Gamer,” the song’s danceable beat is what appeals to Ohio.

“Everyone has their own role in it,” Harris said. “Someone’s dancing or singing or doing something else.”

Recently, a new tradition has begun. An Ohio fan dressed in an inflatable Tyrannosaurus rex costume has taken Bird Arena by storm. The T. rex even has its own Twitter account. Since the dinosaur has been seen at games, the Bobcats have gone 3-0-1. 

Traditions are what make any sports team unique. Traditions can directly identify what a program is, but mostly, traditions are what make teams who they are.

“This is a special place,” Hogan said. “Sixty years of anything is a long time. We have a good thing here.”

@mparker_5

mp109115@ohio.edu

Correction: A previous version of this report misstated the Bobcats' record when an Ohio fan dressed in an inflatable Tyrannosaurus rex is in attendance. The article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.

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