Icemen welcome return of preseason routine, open ECHL camp in Jacksonville

One year ago, Craig Martin wasn't sure what his next hockey season would look like.

"It was weird. You kind of never knew when the season was going to start, always trying to stay prepared," Martin said. "It was a little tough mentally."

Now, for Martin and his Jacksonville Icemen teammates, preseason — real preseason — is back in Jacksonville.

In contrast to a past year of question marks, the Icemen welcomed the opportunity to open a new season's routine when they arrived at the Community First Igloo for the start of training camp.

The camp, which opened Saturday, started the two-week countdown until the opening night of the club's fifth ECHL season on Oct. 23 at the Florida Everblades.

The home opener arrives some two weeks after that, on Nov. 6 against the South Carolina Stingrays at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

So with the clock ticking, players took to the ice Saturday for about 80 minutes of skating, agility work, shooting practice and assorted other drills.

"It's going to be nice to get back into the normal way of doing things, and I think we'll be ready to go once the season starts because of it," forward Abbott Girduckis said. 

The start to camp opens a new chapter for the Icemen, who are entering their All-Star season — the arena will be the site for the ECHL All-Star Classic in January — under Nick Luukko, the second coach in team history.

It's the first head coaching job for Luukko, installed as the Icemen's second boss in August. The 29-year-old had previously served as assistant with the ECHL's Reading Royals. He takes over for original Icemen coach Jason Christie, who moved to accept an assistant coach job with the NHL's Buffalo Sabres in July. 

This time, the Icemen are counting on continuity to ease the transition.

Of the seven players to net 12 or more goals last season, the Icemen return four — Girduckis, Christopher Brown, Derek Lodermeier and leading scorer Ara Nazarian — giving the roster a degree of familiarity that's far from universal in the ECHL. Goaltender Charles Williams also returns.

"It's huge whenever you get your top scorers back," Luukko said. "It makes it a little easier to recruit and get guys to surround them."

Though the preseason is young, Luukko is already working to install his approach to hockey.

"We want to be hard to play against," Luukko said. "Overall, we want to pretty much smother the other team, always coming in waves."

"It's been very smooth. His communication's been good. We're getting it going and he's teaching us the way he wants to do things," Girduckis said.

The Icemen are also in the process of redeveloping the Jacksonville Ice and Sportsplex into the Community First Igloo, a project expected to extend into the summer of 2022.With the exception of Thursday, an out-of-town scrimmage, the Icemen have scheduled 10 a.m. workouts at the Igloo. Those workouts will be open to the public for the remainder of the week. The week closes with the Blue and Black scrimmage at 3:15 p.m. Saturday.

Only six points separated the Icemen from the fourth and final playoff spot in the ECHL East in 2020-21. This year, with the return of more than a dozen clubs that spent last winter in coronavirus-induced hibernation, the league resumes a more conventional format.

A new day of normalcy. For Girduckis and the Icemen, it's welcome.

"We'll build up that chemistry from last year and let the new guys flow into that chemistry and get us going as quick as possible," Girduckis said.

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.