'It was like picking up where we left off last year.' Continuity is the theme for the JaxIcemen as they begin their 2022-23 season Saturday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
For Jacksonville Icemen head coach Nick Luukko, a split second of scanning the faces around the rink confirmed that his second year on the First Coast is already feeling a lot like year one.
Awaiting the crowd during the next season — a season that upon its completion will make the Icemen the second-longest tenured hockey franchise in Northeast Florida history — will be a mix of the new and the old. And there are new players arriving by way of the Icemen's affiliation with the NHL's New York Rangers and the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolf Pack, including goaltender Parker Gahagen, defenseman Luke Martin and second-stint Jacksonville forward Cristiano DiGiacinto.
More than a dozen players on the Icemen's season-opening roster have previously skated for the club, unusual in a league where year-to-year turnover is typically heavy. That list includes currently-injured goaltender Charles Williams, who ranked eighth among ECHL goaltenders with a 2.66 goals-against average last year, and five of their eight highest-scoring attackers from 2021-22: Brendan Harris, Ben Hawerchuk, Derek Lodermeier, Luke Lynch and Ara Nazarian.
Saturday's regular season opener marks the third game on the ice for the Icemen, who already split a pair of preseason exhibitions last week against the Ghost Pirates. Luukko said those games highlighted areas that still need work, pointing to two close-range goals allowed to Savannah skaters in the Oct. 14 exhibition.
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