JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Icemen are surging.
The Icemen have won 10 of their final 12 games entering Wednesday night’s home game against Greenville and sit in second place in the ECHL’s South Division. Things didn’t start out that way for the Icemen (12-8-1-1), who trail the Florida Everblades by just a point in the standings.
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The Icemen won their first two games of the year and then lost their next six games.
“We got a lot of young legs, we play an up-tempo, fast-paced game that I think starts to take over in the second and third periods,” said first-year coach Nick Luukko. “Like we said before, we’d like to get off to some better starts here but our third periods have been great. Guys have been playing the full 60 minutes and it’s been helping us get these wins lately.”
Forward Christopher Brown said that tough start to the season helped steel the resolve for the team.
“We’ve been there because we’ve gone through that adversity this early in the season,” he said. “I think everyone’s at this point, calmed down and like hey, we’ve been here before and we can do it again, and I think it’ll pay off in the long run.”
Beyond Wednesday’s 7 p.m. game against Greenville, it’s a positive time for the franchise. Jacksonville will serve as host for the ECHL all-star weekend on Jan. 16-17.
“I mean, you can feel the energy within the group our coaching staff in our ownership group,” said forward Jake Elmer. “They’re super excited about the all-star classic here. And then obviously, we’re winning games. So, I think everybody’s really excited to get to the new year, get full stride, and I think it’ll be really exciting.”