It’s odd to think that in the southern state of Alabama, a cold wintery sport such as hockey would be so popular. However, despite this fact, the Huntsville Havoc hockey team has held up quite well in its area. Stranger yet, most of the players in the team are not of the south. Most of them come from northern states and even Canada.

And this phenomenon on the ice certainly isn’t a missed opportunity. A yearly attendance poll of the Huntsville Havoc shows that since 2004, attendance has nearly doubled and presents no sign of stopping. It looks as if a prosperous year is ahead for the hockey team, yet it seems this excitement isn’t shared at Bob Jones High School.

A recent survey involving 40 students at Bob Jones shows that 69.2% of the group haven’t attended one of the team’s games whatsoever. And of the group who have been, 25% answered that they’ve only been to one or two games before. Brian Spradlin, a sophomore at Bob Jones stated, “I don’t care for the Havoc because I’m just not interested in hockey as a sport.” Even Cooper Sawyer, another sophomore who plays hockey himself, admitted that he didn’t regularly attend the games either.

He went on to say that the only way his interest would be peaked would be if the intermissions were longer. Many of the students involved in the survey also gave suggestions on how to peak their interest as well. Most of which claimed that better advertisement would raise their chances of going.

However, it’s not like the Huntsville Havoc isn’t reaching out whatsoever. For instance, the team has made a practice of inviting middle and high school bands to perform at their games. It seems as if Bob Jones was simply skipped over in this tradition of theirs. Another way the Havoc has been giving back is by helping at a local hospital. On February 4, the team made baby blankets for the Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children. The Havoc also helped raise $521,934 for the hospital just the day before, on Melissa George night. So the team is certainly reaching out in terms of community relations, but missing much of the Bob Jones demographic as it would seem.

As of now, the popularity of the Huntsville Havoc is still expanding, and its impact will eventually reach Bob Jones. If not this year, then next year. If one were in interested in trying out one of the games, ticket sales range from $12 to $20. A price that may seem steep, but is worth it for the experience. And if that isn’t persuasive enough, the team is famous for its tendency to get into violent hockey fights. And who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned hockey fight?

Here’s the Havoc schedule.