The Basics:
The Hamm's Beermen are an adult amateur hockey team competing in the C division of the St. Louis league of Hockey North America (HNA).
The Beermen were originally formed as the "St. Louis Wings," following the 2009 HNA Adult Hockey Beginner School.
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Original St. Louis Wings Logo |
The Beginner Season:
In February 2009, the Beermen (then the Wings) came together for the first time for HNA's annual Adult Hockey Beginner School. The team comprised of a hodge podge of characters, with varrying degrees of skill and experience. Over the course of eight instructional sessions, the team - along with fellow beginner team, St. Louis Tigers - learned the basics of ice hockey.
Following the on-ice training sessions, the Wings and Tigers were unleashed upon eachother. Sadly, these early games did not go the Wings way, and the team finished the beginner campaign utterly un-victorious.
But what the team lacked in on-ice results, they more than made up for with post-game parking lot comradery. Post-game drinking sessions became the standard opperating procedure, with the best player of each game receiving the prestigious "Beer Helmet" award, and with it, the responsibility of bringing adult beverages to the next game.
The Dawn of Hamm's:
March 29, 2009 - Wings defenseman Ron Ramey, winner of the previous game's "Beer Helmet" award brings a special beer to the parking lot that will forever change the team's identity - Hamm's.
The team instantly took a liking to it, and adopted it as its unofficial beer of choice. After several more late nights in the Webster Groves Ice Arena parking lot, suggestions began to surface regarding rebranding the team using the Hamm's logo and name.
Enter the Beermen:
Being from St. Louis, the team did not take well to the Wings name, nor the logo - a derrivitive of NHL Detroit Red Wings emblem. Upon completion of the beginner league season, a team vote was taken, and the HNA assigned Wings moniker was discarded in favor of the team's new identity - The Hamm's Beermen.
Summer 2009:
The Beermen continued their on-ice education by competing in Hockey North America's Summer 2009 season. 13 of the original 15 Wings were joined by the several players from the B1 Bud Light Longnecks. The team learned quite a great deal from their more seasoned summer teammates. And while the results on the scoreboard did not always indicate as much, the team's all-around play improved greatly. On August 5, 2009, the team picked up its first points with a 4-2 victory. Sadly, that would ultimately prove to be the only win of the season, as the Beermen would finish the season 1 - 9.
Dawn of Beermen 2.0 :
Following a less than stellar C Division debut season (2 -17-1) and a similarly unimpressive Summer season (1-8-1) the Hamm's Beermen opted to split its overflowing roster of mediocrity into two teams with the intent of filling out the remaining spots on each squad with improved talent. As part of this split, 12 players left the Beermen to form the St. Louis Jets (because when your a Jet, you're a Jet all the way...) leaving the eight remaining players to rebuild the Beermen into a more competitive unit. Leading up to the Winter 2010-11 Season, the Beermen acquired several B division players from the Rams (B3), Stealth (B4) and Chiefs (B4). Additional free agent acquisitions were made following the HNA evaluation skates, including the first two "Beerwomen" to join the team.
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