A quadrafactor of hockeysaurs say goodbye

By Crystal Wong

Despite not winning a title during their time on the Dinos men’s hockey team, this year’s graduating players have all enjoyed their stay. Travis George, Mike Lencucha, Wes Reid and Lonny Tetley will take their experience with them while they start their post-Dinos life.

“I had a lot of fun here and made some real good friends,” said George, a fifth-year social sciences student. “I managed to accumulate some pretty good stories in my time.”

“It was great growing up with these guys,” Tetley agreed. “I am proud to have battled with them.”

Lencucha, backup to goalie Scott Talbot this year, is working towards an education degree while Reid is a student in the faculty of communication and culture. The wealth of experience of each player has helped the relatively young Dinos team this season.

More importantly, head coach Scott Atkinson kept the team motivated and, as a result, they worked hard night-in and night-out, giving their opponents everything they had.

“He is the best coach I have ever played for,” Tetley said. “I have never seen someone so dedicated to achieving his goals. He puts himself second to team goals. He’s a real inspiration.”

Although these guys won’t be on the team next season, they will still be involved as cheerleaders for the team.

“[The program] was in a transitional phase,” George commented. “Constantly bringing in better players over the years will be very rewarding in the future.”

George is not sure whether he will go down to the States or over to Europe, but is certain he will be playing hockey somewhere.

“Not winning a championship with the Dinos will probably go down as one of my biggest disappointments in life thus far,” said Tetley, who will continue his studies in the faculty of law. “But I will be extremely happy when the team does win it all.”