Feature photo by Ephraim Rodenbach
Story by Ephraim Rodenbach
When it comes to the local sports scene at MTSU, the most prevalent sports are football and basketball. However, in the early 2000s, several students set out to change the narrative and bring the fastest game on ice to the Blue Raider athletic scene.
Through determination and a dream, today, MTSU has a fast-growing hockey culture in the heart of Tennessee.
Hockey in Tennessee was a foreign idea for many until the NHL’s Nashville Predators came to town. The sport was so unfamiliar to locals, that the public address announcer for the Predators had to explain the rules during games in the first few seasons. The Predators entered the ‘Music City’ and sparked interest in hockey across the southeast.
The early days of the Blue Raider hockey club go back to the early 2000s. The club team held strong for nine years before fading away due to a lack of interest.
Two former players, Riley MacKenzie and Jaylen Mitchell of Vancouver, became the main pillars of pumping life back into the program. The two alumni began recruiting players, and the team hit the ice again to start the 2014-2015 campaign. Rebuilding the program to a respectable level has taken time, but results are starting to show.
“Most importantly, we’re building something special,” MTSU forward Donovan Yesnach said. “For many years this program wasn’t competitive, and other universities didn’t take us seriously. Not anymore.”
The Blue Raider Hockey Club joined the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) in 2016 as a Division III club. In their inaugural ACHA campaign, the Blue Raiders experienced growing pains with just one win.
Despite a slow start, the Blue Raiders would start to pick up pace in the following seasons. A turning point in the program’s popularity came in 2017. This is thanks to the team that brought hockey to Music City. In 2017, the Nashville Predators made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final, pumping hockey excitement into the southeast.
The MTSU hockey program soon began to feel the impact of the Predators’ historic run. The interest in hockey skyrocketed, and fans began to pile in at the Ford Ice Center to cheer on the Blue Raiders.
In 2018, the club transferred to the College Hockey South (CHS). The CHS is a league inside the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and includes teams such as the University of Tennessee, Clemson University and many other athletic powerhouses.
The Blue Raiders experienced early success and growth within the CHS, with the team growing in number of supporters and boasting a filled roster with which to compete. With the program’s growth, a fantastic opportunity presented itself: the NHL Winter Classic; a yearly outdoor game typically hosted in an NFL stadium.
In 2022, the NHL selected Nissan Stadium to host a game between the Predators and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Before the match began, the Blue Raiders played Vanderbilt’s ice hockey team in the ‘Battle of Nashville’. The two teams clashed to bring added exposure to college hockey in the Tri-Star state.
As recently as last season, the Blue Raiders finished the season ranked No. 17 in the nation. The program continues to reach new heights, most notably coming in at No. 5 in the latest AAU Division II hockey rankings and No. 1 in the current CHS standings.
With an uptick in success, MTSU hockey hopes to draw in a new generation of fans.
“For someone who knows nothing about MTSU hockey, I would tell them to attend a game and see how electric our team is,” head coach James Murray said. “Once you come to one game, you won’t be able to stop attending. It’s physical, fast-paced, and high-scoring. Hockey in the south continues to grow, and MTSU is at the forefront of that growth.”
As the puck drops on future campaigns, the Blue Raiders will continue to push the boundaries of excellence, building on a solid foundation and showcasing the sport of hockey.
Ephraim Rodenbach is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines
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