The SRJC hockey team’s 2011-12 season ended with a bitter playoff loss, but the Polar Bears are determined to get back on the ice and fight for a 2012-13 championship.

Armed with a slew of returning and new players, the Polar Bears are ready to face the challenges awaiting them as a new participant in the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association (PCHA). Previously, SRJC was considered an independent team affiliated with the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). Now as a Division III team, the Polar Bears will face six Northern California teams within the PCHA in addition to other ACHA teams.

The Polar Bears will begin the season with two highly touted matches against UC Berkeley (Sept. 14) and San Jose State University’s Division III squad (Sept. 15). After a seven month absence from the ice, the players can not wait for the start of play at Snoopy’s Home Ice.

“The excitement level so far has been very high,” said sophomore player David Horton. “The returning players as well as the new skaters are stoked for the season to start. I have a feeling the first two games coming up are going to be fast paced and high intensity on both sides of the ice.”

Horton, along with returning players that include Cam Davis, Blake Johnson, Alexi Kulikouskiy and John Keshishian, will face similar foes in teams such as UC Davis, Fresno State and Sacramento State University.

This season highlights two important road trips for the Polar Bears, with games in Colorado (Sept.28-29) and Idaho (Oct. 26-28). SRJC will face five teams that they rarely see in competition, including the University of Colorado, who the Polar Bears beat in the first round of the PCHA Regional Tournament last February.

“It’s always exciting to play a team you don’t see often. It really brings up the intensity,” Davis said. “As long as we stick to our systems and play as a team we have a good chance of being successful.”

Another exciting set of games on the Polar Bears’ schedule is the Wine Country Collegiate Classic. The second annual WCCC will showcase teams such as Northern Arizona University, Metro State University and Sacramento State at Snoopy’s Nov. 8-10.

The Polar Bears will play a total of 30 games this season in hopes to return to playoff competition in February 2013. And this time SRJC will not go away quietly.

“We have a team that can contend for a national championship,” Johnson said.“We’re going to work hard to fulfill our potential by winning that title.”

With a team full of talented players and a high-energy game atmosphere, every Polar Bear’s home game is a can’t-miss event.  Both the Sept. 14 and 15 games begin at 8:30 p.m.at Snoopy’s Home Ice and as always, admission is free.

For more information about the Hockey team, please visit http://www.santarosahockey.com.

*** Please note that as of Thursday Sept. 13, the Polar Bears’ Saturday Sept. 15 game against SJSU has been cancelled.