To have a national champion of any sport living in Tellico Village is unique. For that championship to come in the sport of hockey is even more surprising, but for Drake Lamm, who plays for the Junior Ice Bears in Knoxville, and his parents, Tom and Chastity Qualkenbush, hockey has been a part of life for years.
His career in hockey started with a family skate night in Knoxville when Lamm, now 16, was 8 years old.
“You just get out there in some rental skates and try,” Tom Qualkenbush said. “By the time we were done that night he was pretty much running around the rink on his skates.”
It was Lamm’s first time taking the ice in any capacity, but it was enough to grab some attention.
“The hockey director, Josh Akright, asked me if I wanted to play, and the next day I was in pads skating around,” Lamm said.
When he scored his first goal, Lamm knew hockey was the right sport for him and the one he wanted to keep playing. There have been plenty more goals to come since. Lamm led his 14 and younger team in scoring when it won a conference championship, and he said every goal is an exciting one.
“It usually doesn’t come on your first shot either,” Lamm said. “You usually have to wear down the goalie and wear down the competition to get a lucky one, and all of them are always lucky. Once it goes in it’s just a great feeling.”
Lamm plays center and left wing, but he said he prefers the latter.
“Center you have to be everywhere the puck is and you have to do everything to help everybody,” he said. “Left wing you just have to clear it out and be in the right position at the right time.”
The physicality and athleticism of the sport, which Lamm said go under appreciated, are some of the things that really draw him into the sport.
“You never stop moving, and it’s just a ton of fun,” he said. “I don’t think people realize how much energy it takes to play the sport. It takes an immense amount of energy to play it.”
This season the family was concerned he would be left without a travel team to play on as there weren’t enough players in the 16 and younger age range.
“So we asked the 18-year-old coaches if Drake could try out and try to make the 18-year-old team,” Qualkenbush said. “He was one of three boys who were selected as 16-year-olds to play up and play with the 18-year-olds. Just to make the team for him was our first major accomplishment.”
The next accomplishment was earning his spot in the team’s rotation. Lamm played in 40 of the team’s 54 games and scored five times this season as the team made a run deeper than any Knoxville program ever had, winning a national championship by defeating the top seeded Boise Steel Heads 5-1 on April 6 in Wayne, N.J.
“Our goal from the beginning of the season was not just to go to nationals but to win it,” he said. “We’re the first one in the entire organization to do that.”
Lamm’s goals moving forward include winning another title. He also hopes to take his hockey talent to the next level and play at the collegiate level.
He said there are plenty of scouts taking notice when the team travels around the nation, plus it makes what he does unique.
“If it had a bigger base that would be really nice, but it’s fine that it’s a unique sport,” he said. “That makes it more fun for me.”
