Vermont Team Takes Gold in Northeast Gay Hockey Tournament

     The Vermont Pioneers, a Burlington-based gay ice hockey team, won the gold medal at last month’s Gay Hockey Tournament in Montreal. In only its third tournament appearance and with a team that includes members from Ottawa, New York, and New Hampshire as well as Vermont, the Pioneers defeated the Washington (DC) Nationals 3-1 in the Recreational Division championship game.
      Washington scored first to take a 1-nothing lead. But Vermont came roaring back with three unanswered goals.
      According to Paul Kaiser, who plays right wing on the team, there were eight teams in their division. The Vermont Pioneers (“We’re the state that’s pioneering civil unions is where we got the name,” he said) played five games in three days on their drive to the gold. “Our first game was Friday at 10 p.m.; our second at 9 Saturday morning, then the third at 11 a.m. We were dying by that last day, when we played at 1 p.m., and the championship at 4 p.m.”
      Teams from Quebec, Montreal, New York City, and Washington, DC, along with a “World” team were among those who went down to defeat as the Vermonters skated to victory. Kaiser laughingly agreed that his team’s win could be characterized as a “Cinderella story,” since the “mostly 30-something” team plays together only at tournaments. “We were in our third tournament playing against teams that’ve played in these tournaments for eight or ten years.”
      Kaiser and some friends skate in a local Full Stride league and decided to put together a team for gay tournament play. They’d like to put together a local gay and lesbian team in a local lesbian and gay league. “We’re open to anyone, we’d even take straight people.”
      The Pioneers played their first tournament in New York City last summer. The second tournament was last October in Toronto. Kaiser says that although his teammates are “pretty competitive weekend warriors,” the locker room atmosphere is “light and easy.” “We joke around a lot. That’s what makes it such a joy to win and go to these things. Our team has great chemistry.”
      Each player was awarded a gold medal, and the team’s name will be engraved on the championship cup, which remains in Montreal.
      “Another goal of ours is to host a tournament in the future, and we are developing a web site,” said Kaiser.

If you are interested in playing queer ice hockey, please contact Paul at 802-658-3868.