Breaking The ice

When asked to describe his 3ICE team, Joe Mullen only used two words: veteran group. Joe Whitney, Brock Trotter and his son, Patrick, are among the veteran players that Coach Mullen alluded to when depicting the level of hockey experience shown on his team. 

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“They’re all around the same age, but I have a team with guys that have been around for a while and then maybe just one or two of the younger guys,” Mullen said. 

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The Hall-of-Famer who spent 16 seasons playing in the NHL is quite familiar with the travel that comes with the sport, which is an important aspect of the 3ICE season. While there isn’t one location in particular that Mullen is looking forward to travelling to the most, he can’t wait for the first puck drop in Las Vegas on June 18th and every tour stop following that. 

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“It’s truly a great thing that we’re moving around, and a lot of different people will get the opportunity to see it,” Mullen said. “Just to get the word out with the games being on TV too, hopefully people catch on and enjoy it.” 

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A feeling that a majority of the coaches and the faces behind 3ICE share is the excitement to get the season rolling, which is something Mullen feels given the inaugural season has been a long time coming. After the season was supposed to commence last year, the anticipation leading up to June 18^th is surreal. 

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“I’m very excited for the players because I think they’re really going to open the fans to 3ICE in all the cities,” Mullen said. “And as coaches, we enjoyed putting it together and running their training camp so it’s something that will hopefully entertain a lot of people and everybody will have a good experience with.” 

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Now that training camp has wrapped up where the coaches were able to get a glimpse of the players and the fast-paced game, Mullen has a better idea of what fans should expect when his team hits the ice. 

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“Hopefully very fast paced,” Mullen said, “We’re looking to keep control of the puck most of the time, and hopefully lots of goals going in, not on us, but on the other teams.”