By Philip Painter
Special to The Star
The Cuba Tropicals are the Copa Amerigol 2024 men’s ice hockey champions in their international debut.
The motto on Cuba fans’ t-shirts was: “We’re not here to participate -- We’re here to dominate.”
They backed it up. Duro.
Cuba powered through their division, in red and white throwback uniforms reminiscent of another time. Leading the tournament held in Miami in scoring, penalty minutes and fights in the opening round, and eventually taking out 2023 champion Argentina in a double-overtime thriller, the Tropicals defeated last year’s runner-up Greece in the final to win the cup in their first try.
Cuba hoisted the cup in the practice facility of the Florida Panthers, the 2024 Stanley Cup champions, who captured their own first Cup three months ago, playing physical, grind-you-down hockey. Cuba did the same.
“This was our game plan when we were building this team,” beamed Earle Barrington, founder and creator of the nascent Cuban entry; his son Maxwell played a big physical part in the Tropicals’ pedal-to-the-metal game plan. “Play fast and strong, finish every hit.”
His players listened, even though it got difficult, with Cuban fans cheering madly with the pots and pans routinely heard at a Cuban street party.
Cuba’s Brian Brown led league scorers, while Brandon Blair topped the penalty minutes leaders. Goaltender Tyler Terranova, the finals MVP, backstopped every win, even tallying an assist.
“That’s a play we used at college,” Terranova said on the Hockey TV coverage streamed worldwide.
Terranova played hockey in Alabama. He found out about the Cuban squad on social media last year and got involved immediately.
“I had no idea,” he said. “I quickly found out how many Cubans play hockey in North America. And how many play well.”
Obviously Cuba, like many other teams, does not have ice or players in their home country, and recruits diaspora living off-island, as do Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico and others.
“Four of our players were born on the island, the rest were scattered around North America and beyond,” Bennington
noted. “We have brothers here from the Algonquin Native Reservation in Quebec. It really is a look at where Cubans (and all these countries) have migrated in the past 60 years.”
Past winners Argentina, Colombia and Mexico have ice surfaces and roller training facilities. Puerto Rico and Barbados lost their rinks to Hurricane Maria in 2017.
In the pre-Castro era, Havana had the first two ice surfaces in Latin America, the Blanquita and Nacional. Both hosted traveling ice shows and offered public skating. Ice skates could be bought at local sporting goods outlets. There was even a Cuban team in the short-lived Tropical Hockey League, based in Miami in 1938.
They were the Havana Tropicals.
“We knew retaining the original name and logo is part of who we are,” Barrington said. “Winning in Miami makes it real.”
Caribbean Community women repeat as champions
On the women’s side, there was another champion from the tropics, the Caribbean Community (CC) squad. There are 14 countries and territories represented in the CC that have no ice.
It was a repeat of their 2023 title. Head coach and manager Jasmine Miley has been here before; she was captain of the
Puerto Rico women’s miracle run in 2021, as was CC goalie Juliana Rodgers. Both won their third Cup.
“The CC gives us a larger talent pool to recruit from: Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans,” Miley said. “We bond together with amistad.”
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