Jacksonville Icemen skate in preseason hockey practice
Jacksonville Icemen players skated through practice at the Community First Igloo before the ECHL hockey season.
Wrapping up his first preseason as Jacksonville Icemen head coach, Sean Teakle knows his team is looking at a long road trip ahead.
A long, winding and icy road.
Now the longest-tenured professional hockey franchise in Northeast Florida, the Icemen open their ninth ECHL season on Oct. 18 at the expansion Greensboro Gargoyles, the beginning of an eight-game stretch away from the First Coast.
For a team coming off four consecutive appearances in the Kelly Cup playoffs, Teakle said the Icemen aren’t losing focus.
“It’s [the trip] pretty long, but we’re nailing down what we need to [in practice] and not thinking too far in advance. I think that’s a big thing for us,” Teakle said. “I think last year we kind of put the cart before the horse a lot of the year.”
In all, Icemen players will spend nearly three weeks of hockey in locations ranging from Savannah to Utah before returning for their Nov. 7 home opener inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, where Jacksonville has recorded the league’s largest crowds for three years now.
“We’ve got a good returning group, good leadership to make sure everybody’s on the right page,” forward Chris Grando said. “I really like it so far. We’ve got a lot of skill and we’ve got a lot of grit as well.”
Three things to watch:
BUILDING EXPERIENCE
From last year’s Icemen squad that qualified for the South Division first round before going down in frustration — a four-game sweep at the hands of the Everblades, but all of them coming in overtime — close to half the players at the start of camp were newcomers.
But that doesn’t mean the Icemen are necessarily short on experience.
In addition to veteran returners like Garrett Van Wyhe and captain Christopher Brown, Jacksonville also picks up players like fifth-year defenseman Adrien Beraldo, described by Teakle as “a tough, rugged guy who’s been through a lot in this league.”
They’ve also added players with winning backgrounds in the junior and collegiate ranks.
“Guys like MacAuley Carson, Cameron Rowe, they’ve all won national championships and they’ve all won at different levels,” Teakle said. “So it’s something I kind of targeted when I went to pick this team, to pick guys that have won and guys who have been through that grind.”
GIANTS IN THE NET
It takes only a split second to realize there’s a new look in the net for the Icemen in 2025-26.
Instead of the 2024-25 combination of Matt Vernon (now playing in Austria) and Justen Close, this year’s Icemen enter the year with significant size at goaltender.
With the team from the start of preseason are Rowe (6-3, 216) and Dominic Basse (6-6, 196). There’s also a strong likelihood of additional reinforcements from the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans before the first home game.
“We went from having a really small goaltending tandem to having probably one of the biggest in the league,” Teakle said.
THE SCORING SQUAD
For years, Jacksonville has had the defense. Can the attack keep up?
The Icemen return two of their three leading scorers from last year in Grando (21 goals, 33 assists) and Brown (24 goals, 21 assists). Add Liam Coughlin (15 goals, 16 assists); Logan Cockerill (15 goals, 21 assists), who is still on the road back from injury; and previous Icemen scoring sensation Craig Martin, who returns from a year in England after netting 67 Jacksonville goals between 2019-24.
Teakle is also impressed with the talents of Brody Crane, who scored 14 goals and 13 assists with the Icemen last year while still only 20 years old.
As for motivation? After four consecutive playoff exits at the hands of the Everblades, the returning Icemen are determined to turn the tables come the spring of 2026.
“We want revenge,” Grando said, “and we want to work as hard as we can to do that.”
ECHL SEASON OPENER
Who: Jacksonville Icemen at Greensboro Gargoyles.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18.
Where: First Horizon Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.