When 10 p.m. hits on Monday and Wednesday at the Orange County Sportsplex in Hillsborough, N.C., the lights are turned off, the newly mopped floors are studded with yellow caution signs and the welcome desk is abandoned.
But the entire UNC club ice hockey team is still there.
While Hillsborough settles down for the night, the Tar Heels’ world is the ice, the puck and first-year head coach Adam Dauda’s pre-planned drills from 9:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m.
In UNC’s two combined hours of practice time each week, not a minute is to be wasted. With the Tar Heels’ recent success, it appears that Dauda’s approach is paying off.
On Friday, North Carolina returned to familiar conditions at the rink to face Wake Forest in a late 10:30 p.m. matchup. As the Tar Heels exited at almost 1 a.m. to the same dark hallways, they walked away with a 7-1 win, a dominant defensive showcase and high praise from Dauda.
“I thought guys being willing to block shots was huge for us tonight,” Dauda said. “The way we had our stick on puck and it was hard to play against us tonight which I’m really proud of, and hopefully we can just keep that going.”
Dauda credited much of the Tar Heels’ success to focusing on the “minor details,” and the head coach takes a similarly tactful approach in UNC’s group chat. Before the team enters each practice, Dauda sends specific plans for the tightly scheduled hour. There should be no questions about what jersey to wear or which drill to run.
In fact, in the jam-packed practice hour, there’s very little talking.
“It’s really about being organized and making sure everyone knows about what’s going to happen at a certain point in practice so that people aren’t like, ‘Hey, what are we doing? Like what’s this drill?’” junior goalkeeper Joel Hughes said. “Then you’re just wasting ice time. You pay for the hour — you might as well get as much of that hour.”
