This week, I sat down with Shamrocks’ returner, Joe Rice. Rice is from Prior Lake, Minnesota, and credits the start of his hockey journey to watching his older brother. From there, he continued to develop a love for the game and a wish to move through the levels. In terms of finding his spot here in Watertown, Rice said, “ just knowing people playing in front of scouts, and getting the connections, and just talking a bunch of coaches, and just found this was the best spot for me,”.
Rice is a returning member of the Shamrocks this year, after 51 games played last season. He scored seven goals and had 14 assists for a total of 21 points on the season. Despite success last season, Rice still feels he has grown as a player. Rice said, “I think I really improved my speed over the years. I think that’s a big part of my game, as well as just my creativity and finding open spots on the ice and finding the hard passes and just getting it through,”. Rice also believes that, since last season, he has learned to improve his ability to underhandle the puck to find space and create better plays.
Last season, the Shamrocks finished their inaugural season with a strong foundation built for this year. Rice stated that their goal was to start where they left off. Rice said the team was looking toward “being really physical, being fast, hard, relentless, playing connected, and trying to get as many shots on net, crashing the net, and just bearing down for those dirty goals,”. In terms of team identity, Rice also believed that this has stayed the same since last year. He said, “a lot of fast-paced moves, like moving the puck quick, finishing our checks, and just kind of like playing connected,”.
Although this is Rice’s last year of NAHL eligibility, he is taking every moment in. Rice said, “As of right now, just kind of taking it step by step, you know, just game by game, practice by practice, trying to be the best me every day and just take it day by day”. His personal goal for the season is to advance and continue progressing in the world of hockey.
The Sharmocks as a whole and Rice both contribute a lot of their success to the community of Watertown. Rice acknowledges that community support is everything and means a lot to all the guys. Rice said, “I mean all the fans coming out to support us. It’s great. The fans are awesome. I think it’s what really keeps us going in every game, and it’s what has really made us stand out in these third periods this year so far. So I think the fans are a huge factor to our play style,”.
Big thank you to Joe Rice for sitting down with me!