Illini hockey knocks on wood

Athletes are a weird bunch.

They will do anything it takes to make them believe luck is on their side, and in a game like ice hockey, where one bounce can be the difference between a one-goal lead and a one-goal deficit, luck is everything.

The Illini hockey club has plenty of pre-game superstitions that range from the mundane - dressing one side at a time - to the insane - avoiding mirrors at all costs.

If being superstitious makes a person crazy, then the locker rooms underneath the Ice Arena ought to have white, padded walls.

Sophomore defenseman Alex Tauchen said he and many of the players on the team put on their gear from left to right before games.

Junior forward Steve Krates gets his ritual started long before game day.

Every Friday, at 1 p.m., he and senior forward Scott Kohler put two restaurant names in a hat, pick one and then go eat lunch there.

"I can't remember why we started doing it, but Za's is always the first one of the year," Krates said.

It doesn't stop there.

Senior defenseman Justin Stock will drive Krates to the games on Friday night, and Krates will drive Stock to the games on Saturday, Krates said.

He said it just started randomly and now has become a pre-game custom.

Also before a game, junior defenseman Andy Lubesnick avoids mirrors, which is why he has a locker in the back corner.

Before games, Lubesnick said he refuses to look at a mirror and is sure to wear the same tie, shirt and pants to every game.

But no matter what the superstition, the Illini will have to play with the same intensity they had against Michigan Saturday night, when they beat the Wolverines 14-1.

This Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m., the Illini will face the Ferris State ClubDawgs (4-2), who are a young team with 11 rookies - much like the Illini.

"Consistency for both games is really important," said senior forward Brian Coleman. "I think we have to start building good habits. "We need to take control of the game right from the start and not let up until Saturday night."

To take control, Coleman said, the Illini need to get physical early and often.

"If we throw the body around, and bang them around in the first period to let them know that they are going to have to work twice as hard if they want to have a shot (at winning), that would be a good start," Coleman said. "It's probably the most important thing we have to do."