During a weekend when celebrating the seniors mattered more than the games themselves, the Illinois hockey fans at the Big Pond brought more support than they have all season, which is saying something.

Throughout the season, the Illini praised their home crowd, and now that they played their final games at the Big Pond, Illinois seniors have nothing but gratitude for their fans.

“I’m going to miss it a lot,” senior goaltender Nick Clarke said. “They make it so great. Even when we were having our rough patch earlier in the year, they still came out and still supported us no matter what. I’ve got a lot of respect for them.”

After four years as Illinois hockey players, the home crowd has become a staple in the seniors’ lives. The fans yell out the same chants — like shouting “You suck!” at each of the visiting team’s players when they are being introduced or chanting “It’s all your fault” at the opposing goalie after the Illini score — every night. The arena even plays the same songs during every game, such as Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” whenever the visitors net a goal and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” during intermissions.

Playing at the Big Pond comes with a sense of tradition the fans have instilled, and the Illini have noticed. Senior forward Eddie Quagliata said he knows all the crowd’s chants and notices some of the things they yell at the visiting team’s players.

“You could hear what they say,” Quagliata said. “You’re obviously not going to look up and react to it, but you could hear mostly what people say because they’re so close to you and they’re yelling down at you, so it projects pretty well. Sometimes I’ll look up and I’ll be like ‘Oh my gosh, that’s pretty bad.’ But they’re definitely awesome.”

Besides the loyal fans, the Big Pond sports some other perks. The ice size is the largest in the ACHA, which allows the Illini to play to their strengths: their speed and skating ability. Also, according to Quagliata, the Big Pond is one of the only rinks where the fan seating is close enough to the ice to allow for the fans to be even more of a factor.

“This ice is really unique,” Quagliata said. “I’ve never played on anything like it in my life. It seats a decent amount of people and they’re all on top of you. Other teams come in here and they’re a little shocked sometimes.”

Illinois is 14-7-1 in games played at the Big Pond this season, compared to 6-12 on the road, so the advantage of playing at its home rink is clear.

“It affects (us) a lot,” Clarke said about the Big Pond’s atmosphere. “Here, whenever I basically touch the puck I hear cheers, whether it’s a big save or not, and that just gets you going and you ride off that momentum from the fans. When you’re on the road and you make a save and you don’t hear those cheers, obviously, you keep playing, but it helps when the crowd’s behind you and pumps you up a little bit and keeps you going.”

Head coach Nick Fabbrini said he feels the same sort of adrenaline rush from the crowd as a coach that he felt when he played for the Illini, and notes the fans’ energy goes hand-in-hand with the team’s success.

“The word that keeps coming to mind is ‘special,’” Fabbrini said when asked about the fans. “There’s not really another word that I can think of that really describes it adequately, and I don’t even know if ‘special’ does a good enough job.”

Once the ACHA tournament comes to a close, the six Illinois seniors will officially be alumni and will be able to become a part of the crowd that has given them so much support. But before that happens, the seniors continue to express their gratitude to their fans.

“It’s amazing the support we get from the community,” senior captain Austin Bostock said. “Personally, especially from the team and from the guys that are graduating this year, just thank you to the fans for coming out and supporting us and giving us so much love every Friday and Saturday night.”

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