Published: Jan. 18, 2024 at 2:38 PM AKST
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Unique to Alaska, hockey teams from the Army and the Air Force will face each other in their annual battle, the Commander’s Cup.
The soldiers who take to the ice benefit in numerous ways. They benefit from the connections they make, the opportunity to pursue a loved interest, and a much needed escape from their duties. They additionally benefit from the exercise and the glory of victory for those that win.
Army versus Air Force...For years the Army and Air Force have shared a rivalry in athletics with competitions in college sports and other venues. Fairbanks is just one location in which that rivalry lives on with legacy. In the interior, that comes in the form of the annual Commanders Cup and Battle of the Branches hockey games.
These two branches will once again battle it out on the ice as they do each year. But, the opportunities provided by the sport go beyond the friendly face off on ice. When it comes to the months of preparation prior to the game, players from both teams get more than exercise from the experience. The restacking of teams, hours of practice and integration of new players all plays a part in a greater shared experience from the players that help them while stationed in the last frontier.
“If it wasn’t for hockey I’d probably be a big dorm rat, I’d be staying in my room all the time,” said Airman 1st Class Jacob Finger, one of the players for the Air Force Icemen. “It gets me out, I’m skating three times a week, I’ve got a good community of people so it means a lot to me to be able to still play.” That very community of people also adding to a support network that aids in the prevention of suicide and depression for soldiers in Alaska.
Also aiding that fight is the ability to escape the norm of their military duties. “I look forward to it whenever there’s practice or anything just to get out and get your mind off of work,” said Airman 1st Class Shane Meholick, another player for the Icemen. Perhaps with some irony, the occasional injuries associated with the sport of hockey might keep their mind off of work as well, if an injury occurs.
Leaving their duties in the locker room also brings a new social dynamic for the troops now mixing rank for sport.
“I’m an a1c and a lot of these are like Staff Sergeants and above so it’s like really weird to be hanging out with these guys that have like ten years on me,” Meholick said. But the strange mix of age and rank isn’t all that awkward. Meholick said it’s also provided some memorable experiences such as a trip to Las Vegas.
Despite being teammates both on and off the ice, the friendly relations don’t exist when duty calls. “We still go by customs and courtesies; I’m no longer Justus, I’m Captain Neumann again and it’s part of the game,” said Cpt. Justus Neumann, one of the players for the Army Arctic Warriors. “That’s why we try really hard to keep rank out of the locker room and off the ice.”
Still during off hours the rivalry relations exist in good sporting fun. “A lot of us we’ll take little shots at each other on social media, text messages here and there,” said Cpt. Vaughn Guetens, another Army player. While the chirps, as they’re called in hockey, “add fuel to the fire” they also help build interest in the game for the soldiers and it’s a game that much like their service, is bigger than they are.
While the game is in some ways a service that gives back to the community, it also “something unique that a lot of service members don’t have the chance to have,” Guetens said. For which all the players seem to be quite grateful for and beyond ecstatic about.
For some of the players, this marks the first game such being the case for Jacob Finger, but the fun will end for each player eventually. That’s a reality faced by Guetens for 2024. “I’m going to have lifelong relations with these people afterwards so it’s great,” said Meholick. First game or last game, it’s something they’ll all cherish for a lifetime.
The Commander’s Cup hockey game between the Army’s Arctic Warriors and the Air Force’s Ice Men, is a free event that will be played Friday, Jan. 19, at the Big Dipper Ice Arena. Doors open at 6 p.m. and puck drops at 7 p.m.
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