Unlike its NHL heroes, Muller’s Hoboken Rockets hockey team plays year round and is well into its spring season.
Last September, the squad of local residents from many walks of life won the 2010 Level 8 Ice House Championship.
Team Captain Roger J. Muller Jr. of Hoboken’s Muller Insurance led the Rockets to first place with seven wins, one tie, and zero losses. The Rockets is one of six hockey teams Muller runs, often exchanging players to give them more playing time.
Since the team was founded 20 years ago, it’s won 50 trophies.
“We’re all friends on and off the ice.” – Megan Celeste
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Ice dreams
Muller was introduced to the idea of forming a team while attending New Jersey Devils games with his sister Erika Muller, who also works in the family insurance business on Washington Street in Hoboken.
When NHL official John DeCarlo told them about Hockey North America, Roger and Erika signed up for lessons in Bayonne, where they learned how to skate and stick-handle.
When they started playing competitively, Roger developed such a passion for the game that he started his own team. Erika, who plays defense, excelled so quickly, she almost made the 1998 women’s Olympic hockey team that beat China for the gold that year.
Roger has recruited new players to skate with vets.
Making the team
Peter Gordon, 46, a printer from Woodcliff, played hockey growing up in Toronto, where “hockey is like Little League here in the States,” he says. He gave up the game when he realized he wasn’t going pro and then picked it up again when he moved to the States.
“I love being a part of this team because it’s very close-knit,” Gordon says. “Nobody puts themselves above the team. We’re one of the elite teams and it’s a pleasure to go to play.”
Defenseman Tim Calabrese, a Bayonne police officer, agrees.
“This team clicks pretty well,” he says. “We’ve got to be pretty good because we keep winning.”
Tim’s sister Sharon also plays.
“I played with her in high school for two years, so I’m used to it,” Tim says.
Sharon, 37, a forward, is a full-time mother of three children, 8, 5, and 3. She played ice hockey in eighth grade, taking lessons at the Bayonne rink and playing in leagues with the Bayonne Rangers. When she attended Marist High School, she was the only girl on the team. When she joined the Rockets last year, it had been a while since she’d been skating.
“Most of the guys on Roger’s teams are young, right out of college and have fast feet and good legs,” Sharon says. “I was 35 with three kids and out of shape. Some guys would have laughed, but every game they helped me in every way they could. I’m a hundred percent better player now from when I started. I know what I’m doing, I can keep up with them, and I play just as well as those 24-year-old boys.”
Women rock
John “Diddles” McDonald, 43, oversees the Hoboken Recreation Department’s roller hockey team and other sports activities for kids and has played forward for the Rockets for two years.
He’s a fan of the team’s women.
“Erika’s a fierce competitor, and Meagan and Sharon are tremendous skaters,” McDonald says. “Meagan scores a lot of goals and Sharon sets up a lot of goals.”
That would be right wing Megan Celeste, 29, an independent filmmaker from Hoboken.
From day one, Erika Muller, 44, played defense, proving time and again that she could hold her own against men.
“I played field hockey in high school and I was All-County,” Erika says. “After high school, I played 10 years for the Ironbound Bandits in Newark and the Bridgewater Wings. We traveled everywhere, places like Virginia, Washington, and Montreal. It was a huge change when I started playing on the Rockets.”
Playing with men is different. “It’s very competitive and challenging,” she says. “Men don’t think women belong out there on the ice and a lot of them don’t appreciate you being on the ice. When I hit someone, they really don’t like me. Even though I’m a woman, I don’t expect any special treatment.”
Celeste plays with boyfriend, defenseman Eric Lonsinger, a Hoboken software engineer. They met while students at the University of New Hampshire.
“It’s a good way to stay in shape,” Celeste says, “but it’s social. I played on a team where players were out for themselves. This team, we’re all friends on and off the ice.”
Winning defense
Center Jack Lenhart, 30, a Belleville geologist, plays defense and offense, covers the front of the net, and takes the face-offs. He’s been playing in the league for more than a year. “This season we continue to win because we have great defense and goal-tending,” Lenhart says. “If your defense is bad you’re gonna lose.”
“I play on the same line with two of my friends and we work well together,” Lenhart says. “We may not be the most talented, but we communicate and you see that on the ice. I feel every time I go out there I learn something new.”
Youth rocks
Andrew Beebe, 24, an Old Tappan PNC bank administrator, played hockey in high school.
“I like to compete; that’s my thing,” Beebe says.
He remembers the night the Rockets faced off against the Lions in a close game. The Rockets was down 2-1 and later in the game, the team made a short-handed goal and a go-ahead goal and held on to win. Beebe scored the tying goal in the championship game.
“We had good team chemistry and scored a lot of goals,” he says. “That’s because the camaraderie is tight.”
Beebe, one of the youngest players, is optimistic.
“This season we have a good run going,” he says. “It’s a tougher road, but I think we can do it. There are better teams and tougher competition but we’re up for the challenge.”
For more information on the Rockets, go to www.mullerinsurance.com/rockets.
Sally Deering can be reached at sallydeer@ aol.com.