As a search and rescue controller for the U.S. Coast Guard, Vince Grochowski spends his days surveying the open water.

Once a week, Grochowski prefers hitting the frozen water.

Grochowski is the captain of Hawk Intel, an adult hockey team comprised mostly of Coast Guard members along with civilians, which competes in the Juneau Adult Hockey Association (JAHA) in Alaska.

“Officially, the Coast Guard does not have a team, it just so happens most of us on the team all work for the Coast Guard,” Grochowski said. “The Coast Guard does encourage its members to be active and build teamwork and relationships outside of the work environment.”

Grochowski likes that the entire team isn’t entirely made of all Coast Guard members. Having civilians on the team helps continuity. Plus, Grochowski isn’t shy to admit it’s a double-edged sword sometimes playing hockey with people who he works alongside.

“On one hand, I work with most these guys on a daily basis, one of them is actually my boss, so there’s never a shortage of hockey talk around the office,” Grochowski said. “On the other hand, when things are not going well — and this season we’ve run into some ice management and positioning issues — you try and constructively correct the issues, but that can cause problems that carry over into the next day at work. All in all, we respect each other, and I think that because we’re so competitive we want to be the best and win.”

Third-year player Arik Knapp thinks it’s special having a team made of up mostly Coast Guard members.

“A lot of the difficulty of being in the military is the moving around and not getting to make a lot of lasting local connections, so having a team where you can come into the locker room, share jokes, lingo and similar stories definitely makes it a fair amount more enjoyable,” Knapp said.

Grochowski is a civilian himself but works for the Coast Guard in the same capacity as he did when he was active duty. He’s used to working 12-plus-hour days, so playing hockey once a week is a nice break from the daily grind.

“We play in JAHA because we love the game of hockey,” Grochowski said. “I think it serves us in several aspects. It’s a lot more fun and a better workout than going to the gym, and it gives most of us something to do in a place where, once winter sets in, our options are very limited.”

Added Knapp, “It's a good release from what can be a fairly high-stress job, and this is a tough place to be over the winter when it's cold, dark and wet from October to April.”

Since the majority of the players on Hawk Intel are in the Coast Guard, they grew up all over the country. Grochowski likes the fact that diversity gives his team a well-rounded hockey perspective.

The team is in its third season. The first year, it was named the Tigers but switched to Hawk Intel the following season. Grochowski, 43, has played all three years. The core group of the team has been playing together for two seasons, which includes Grochowski, Knapp, Alanna McGovern, Greg Crane and Richie Hinderhofer.

This year’s squad has about 12 to 13 players, who range from 25 to 45 years old. Some played high school hockey and some played previously in other adult leagues.

“As a team, in my opinion, we have a pretty good mix of talent and we feed off each other,” Grochowski said. “As a matter of fact, we have some pretty fast skaters in Richie Hinderhofer and Dave Vernon, who have held our blue line. Our new goaltender, Zach Retzloff, never played ice hockey but was a lacrosse netminder in high school and has made the switch with great success.”

Hawk Intel competes in Tier C of JAHA. It’s a competitive division in which Hawk Intel won the championship last season.

“The competition level between teams gets intense, especially for teams such as mine and the Rendezvous team, who I consider to be our main rival,” Grochowski said. “When the both of us play, it gets chippy, especially for a ‘no-check’ league. At the end of the game though, we line up, shake hands and wait to play against each other again.”

Hawk Intel has strong on-ice chemistry, and part of that can be attributed to working together. The players make sure they have a great time when they are on the rink together.

“What I think makes it fun is that we all know each other, for the most part, and have a lot of fun in the locker room before games,” Grochowski said. “Arik brings in a boom box, and we blast music. Also, we feel a great sense of pride displaying our game pucks in our command center for others to see.

“It’s really not too much different performing our job as search and rescue and marine environmental protection specialists and playing as a team. On both occasions, we work hard to get the job done, pay attention to detail and leave fulfilled at the end of the day and game.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.