As alluded to in part 1 of this series following the NYU hockey team, the players sure love to talk. It’s not always pretty, and it’s not always nice. It is often laden with expletives, but it sure as hell is fun. So here are a few of the best things heard thus far while hanging out with my favorite NYU sports team.

Before the team van could leave from Coles for practice at Chelsea piers on Feb. 11, sophomore goalie Alec Hardman requested everyone hold tight as he had one last task to perform — ask the cute girl from the front desk out. Moments later, he rushed out with his arms held high above his head.

“She said yeah! Dude that was the most awkward thing.” His teammates response, upon looking her up online, was what any supportive teammates would say: “She’s actually good-looking.”

And on that happy note, the team set off for the Sky Rink, as the boys continued their search online to investigate Alec’s romantic pursuit. After a less than ideal mood at the previous week’s practice for unknown reasons, Hardman was now in much better spirits.

On the bus, the conversation took a turn from the romantic to the gastrointestinal when freshman forward Mason Gallegos inquired in jest as to whether or not the university’s dining hall food had laxatives in it.

“It’s an urban legend,” responded fellow freshman Gil Lipkin.

Van ride antics aren’t just a one-night occurrence. In a van driven by Hardman to the game the following night, WSN’s videographer extraordinaire Shawn Paik inquired, “Who’s the best driver on the team?”

“Oh definitely me,” said Hardman. But later on, while stuck at an intersection, Hardman conceded, “Okay, I might have to retract the best driver statement.”

Once the team arrived at the rink — in one piece, thankfully — another van manned by Denis O’Hara was nowhere to be found. Maybe the better question would have been who the worst driver on the team was.

At practice, while lining up to step on the ice, freshman Eric Boyda asked where Karen Caruso, one of the team’s student managers, got the scarf she was wearing.

“I want to get my mom one for her birthday,” he reasoned.

While the players waited to head on the ice Sam Daley asked me to keep him posted on the score of the University of New Hampshire-William Patterson University game since it was the night before the Violets were set to face off against UNH in their last game of the regular season. When he asked for an update he was met with teammates gibes of “Stop flirting boys.”

“Ya gotta fuckin’ love this drill,” cracked one player when head coach Chris Cosentino proposed a change during practice. He’s probably lying, but he does it anyway because one month from now, this team isn’t going to be happy if they don’t defend their championship.

via GIPHY

And of course, the age old question for any hockey team? Who is the team’s biggest troublemaker? That would be Beau Lardner according to the injured junior Charles Arsenescu.

“I was voted funniest, best looking and I have the best shooting percentage on the team,” Lardner jeered. “I don’t shoot often but when I do, they go in.”

But Arsenescu isn’t free from quirks of his own. “Suh dude” is his motto while bench bound — the hand motion is essential.

As for the audience’s refreshments at Chelsea Piers? You better believe the team knows about their liquid courage. There’s a reason that the cheers for the team’s last goal of the night are a little more rowdy than those for goals earlier in the game. And they love it.

“We have incredible fans,” Hardman said. “They provide us with energy that makes it seem like we’ve got a seventh man on the ice. You’ll have to ask them what gets them going though.”

And a few last words, from Coach Cosentino, who is pushing for an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for most different ways of saying the same basic message: win.

On mindset:

“Just focus on what you can control.”

“Be prepared for a 60-minute battle.”

“The second you go flat they’re gonna jump on ya.”

“Keep pushin’ on ‘em.”

“Shoot the puck, score goals, we’ve got to control the game.”

“We run this program the best we can, and just like anything else in life, it’s what you make of it.”

it’s official! NYU hockey finishes the season ranked #1 in the NE, earning an autobid to the ACHA D2 national tourney 3/18-3/22! #GoViolets

— NYU Ice Hockey (@NYUIceHockey) February 17, 2016

Email Rachel Ruecker and Shawn Paik at [email protected] and [email protected].