Ice Bears and Iced Beer

Sean Sullivan
Kappa Sigma

The Odyssey this week is giving the Bar exam on all the local watering holes and naturally, I looked for a way to give it a sports slant. Yet here at the University of Tennessee, alcohol can’t officially be served at any sporting events, leaving students of age to search elsewhere to enjoy a cold beverage while watching their favorite teams. A Knoxville Ice Bears hockey game is an inexpensive way to spend a Friday night watching sports and pregaming before the weekend bar crawl.

For nearly every game, the Ice Bears have promotions and fan appreciation events at their home rink in the Knoxville civic center. Not to mention, just about every weekend game has a different event, ranging from wiener dog races to $2 dollar beer nights. The $14 dollars it costs for a ticket is well worth it.

Will Sovine, a fellow Kappa Sigma who often frequents the Ice bears games, last went to the Nov. 10 4-2 win over the Huntsville Havoc. “The game was thrilling and exciting. They even have that cool beer machine that fills your cup from the bottom up. I always go to the Thursday $2 beer nights.” 

The great beer prices aren’t the only excuse to venture to an Ice bears game. The Bears, who compete in the Southern Professional Hockey league, are near the top of the rankings every year. Since the league was established in 2004, the Ice Bears have won the regular season championship four times and the playoff championship three times. This year, the Bears are currently second in the SPHL led by goal scoring machine Kevin Swider.

It isn’t hard to see why the fan attendance is at an all-time high considering all the game promotions combined with the success the Knoxville Ice Bears have had of late. You couldn’t possibly have a pulse if you think a high paced, board crashing hockey game that is close and inexpensive, pared with cheap beer doesn’t appeal to you. With the team playing this well and the beer being that cheap, it’s hard to come up with an excuse not to go to an Ice Bears game.

Sean is a senior studying journalism and electronic media. You may contact him at ssulli12@utk.edu.