Diverse team shares common thread

Posted Jul. 21, 2016 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON – The new hockey champions at Oak Park Ice Arena are interesting and a vastly different assortment of people.

They range in age from 18 to 53 years. Their careers vary from those who work in law enforcement, technology companies and a pair of brothers from Manteca who create fishing lures.

What they have in common is the love of the sport, the camaraderie that hockey brings and the fact that they are the Verbero A-Cones, the best darn team in the newly founded adult league at the rink.

On Sunday, the A-Cones won the title and the first Oak Tree award, a plaque made of a wood, with a 10-6 victory against Green Salsa Verde. It might not be the Stanley Cup, but the A-Cones are proud of it.

“We had a lot of fun and it is special to win,” said the team’s coordinator, Corby Antropik, a former equipment manager for the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL and a current employee of Verbero, a hockey equipment company. “I really think hockey brings people together.”

The passion for hockey runs through generations. Ryan Campbell, 18, is the youngest player on the A-Cones, and he’s a stick boy for the Stockton Heat of the American Hockey League. Campbell is a goaltender and forward, playing next to 53-year-old Jeff Gallagher of Sacramento.

Gallagher is a project manager for the technology company Cisco. He’s played hockey since he was a child, and looked forward to the chance to play again.

“I’m happy to just lace them up still, so winning a championship with a bunch of fun guys is icing on the cake,” Gallagher said. “One thing about hockey is that it’s all about the relationships you make. I have relationships which I started when I was 6 years old that I maintain today, and I’m 53. Hockey does that. It’s really a fraternity.”

Goalie Gerry Yang, a native of Seoul, South Korea, had years of roller skating experience but was new to ice hockey.

“I have 15 years experience in roller skating, but this was new to me,” Yang said. “It was a great experience, and I have my first championship in the United States.”

Among the A-Cones are Pete Beareaux, the current equipment manager of the Heat, and Tyler and Kyle Kruenegel of Manteca. They work together to create fishing lures and sell them on line, and have played hockey since they were youngsters taking the ice for the Stockton Colts.

“It’s nice to have somewhere to play,” said Tyler Kruenegel. “It’s just a great bunch of guys.”

Adult leagues have thrived in Stockton in the past, but faded in the past several years. The officials at Oak Park Ice Arena, working with several local players, hoped to revive a league and started one this year with four teams, later adding a fifth.

“We had people interested, and it’s really off to a good start,” said Derek Eisler, the rink’s operations manager. “We have a huge mix in this league of people who have played for years, and people who are new. It’s a good blend. On every team there is a diversity of experience.”

The league plays on Sunday nights at Oak Park. There is limited checking and no fighting. Eisler said he hopes the league can eventually expand to about eight teams, and perhaps they could break into divisions based on experience. For now, he hopes to have a sixth team in place when the adult league resumes on Aug. 21.

The A-Cones will be back, ready to defend their title.

“It’s great to win, but it’s really about getting that chance to play,” Campbell said. “That’s the common thing for all of us – the love of hockey.”