Mayhem spreads hockey knowledge through clinic

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – In case you didn’t know, the Macon Mayhem is pretty good.

In fact, the semi-professional hockey team is tied for first place right now  in the Southern Professional Hockey League standings.

“We’ve been going to the hockey games the last few weeks and found out about the clinic going on and he wanted to try it out, so I brought him,” William Melton says.

Melson doesn’t have a hockey background.

“Absolutely not,” he says with a smile. “I know very little about it.”

So he drove his son from Warner Robins to Bibb Skate Arena on Hawkinsville Road for a clinic..

..taught by players from the Mayhem.

“We have seven or eight (players),” says Erik Evenson, Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for the team. “A few forwards, and then our goalies, so we’re teaching everybody the goalies, the skaters.”

As with most anything, training starts with the basics.

“We go from passing to shooting,” center Stephen Pierog says. “Even skating.”

“I’d say half of them have probably never played hockey,” organizer Michael Slavin says. “And there’s only a few of them that have even skated.”

There is a difference, of course, between rollerblading and ice skating.

“On ice, you’re going to be a little more contact,” Pierog says. “Here, it’s a little more skill.”

That makes a facility like Bibb Skate Arena perfect for learning the game’s fundamentals.

“If the kids know how to play, they can understand the game,” Slavin says. “The hardest thing about watching a hockey game, if you don’t know, is you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t know the rules and it’s really difficult to follow unless you know the rules.”

Pierog says seeing smiles on the kids’ faces “makes his job easier.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a very good player or just a beginner. It’s (hockey) something that you can learn. It’s very character building, and it’s just a good time out here.”

Slavin was thrilled with the turnout and expects more clinics in the future.

Stay with us for information if you’re interested in getting your kid involved.

As for the Mayhem, you can see them in Macon Friday, February 24 at 7:35 against Pensacola.