Winter Break left Union College’s campus primarily empty and quiet. Most students relaxed at home, detoxing from the stress of finals and busyness that comes with being a college student. However, a handful of athletes remained on campus to continue their practices and games. This included the men’s ice hockey team. In addition to practices and games, the Union Garnet Chargers received a special visit from the media outlet, BarDown. This channel primarily focuses on hockey, producing entertainment on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. The BarDown team was very interested in checking out the M&T Bank Center, as they like to highlight new facilities. The Union team was obviously thrilled to receive the opportunity to work with BarDown. In addition, this was a great way to attract a larger audience for Union’s hockey program.
The video is titled, “CAN WE BEAT A NCAA D1 TEAM WITH A 5-ON-3 POWERPLAY ALL GAME?” As the title implies, the BarDown team experimented to see if five of their members could beat three of Union’s members in a thirty-minute-long hockey game. The video sparked a lot of interest, having over 185,000 viewers on YouTube.
The video starts off with the BarDown team getting ready for the game. Immediately, it is visible how confident they are in their ability to take the Union team down. After a bit of chirping on the ice, they begin the first period. About two and a half minutes into the game, Union scores their first goal. Not long after, they score another. This starts to panic BarDown as the players realize their “strategy”, whatever that may be, isn’t working. They then say to play the hockey game as if it were soccer and continue passing the puck. And, most importantly, their teammate, Luca, needs to stop falling on the ice. At 4:47 in the period, the BarDown team finally gets its first goal. They were ecstatic that the puck trickled into a wide-open net. After BarDown scores its second goal, Union quickly retaliates with three more goals.
Once the second period starts, Union gets a goal eight seconds in. This causes BarDown to get a bit chippy, as they are not happy with the outcome so far. One of the BarDown players even cross-checks a Union player out of frustration. However, no penalty is called. Even the commentator for the game starts to lose hope for the BarDown team, saying, “they just don’t have it.” At one point, a BarDown player pushes a Union player to the ice. Once again, no penalty is called on the play. One can assume that the referee even felt bad for the BarDown team. With about one minute left in the second period, a Union player finds himself in the penalty box for interference. Even the commentator speculates that this could be out of mercy. Now, the BarDown teams find themselves in a two-on-five situation for two minutes. They quickly get a much-needed goal and boost of confidence. One of the best highlights of the game happens about thirty seconds before the period ends. A BarDown player is standing in front of the Union bench, and soon gets pulled by the collar of his jersey, having multiple Union players splash water all over him. A penalty is immediately called, and the BarDown team goes right back on the power play, but the period quickly comes to an end.
When the third period begins, Union gets yet another three goals, and it really starts to settle with BarDown’s team and commentators that they are not winning this game. They even acknowledge that Union is giving about fifty percent of their energy. The gloves then drop, and two players go at it. The two fall to the ice, and the rest of the players tap their sticks out of respect. Jesse puts himself into a “time-out”, calling it a double-minor penalty as the game continues. The BarDown team gets another goal, but then Union’s net-minder rushes out of the net and attempts a goalie goal. He gets tripped up by a BarDown player and quickly has to rush back to the net. Another fight breaks out, and the teams exchange some chirps. Despite the BarDown team losing 11-4, it’s clear they had the time of their lives.
Overall, this video had a huge impact on the Union hockey team, as well as the college as a whole. It gave more attention to Union’s hockey program, highlighted the new arena, and created a core memory for the team and its staff.
