MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — “Out of the Blue,” Middle Tennessee State University’s monthly television magazine program, laced up its ice skates in its October episode for a closer look at one of campus’s most spirited student organizations, the MTSU Ice Hockey Club.

My goal for this piece was to capture the energy and momentum surrounding the team following their huge milestone of bringing home the 2025 College Hockey South Men’s Division 2 conference championship. What started as a small student club has grown into a tight-knit community of players and supporters who’ve put MTSU hockey on the map in a big way.

The “Out of the Blue” segment includes interviews with head coach J.J. Murray, team captain Linden Palmer, and club president Zach Giblin, each sharing unique perspectives on the program’s growth, recent success, and what’s ahead for Blue Raider hockey.

“If you have a good culture, then you have a good team,” said Murray. “Now we have people recommending us to their friends, and that’s where we’ve gone from. We have great players telling their friends that they should come and play for MTSU.”

The MTSU Hockey Club calls the Ford Ice Center in Antioch its home rink, where they compete in the fast-growing world of collegiate-level hockey. During their seasons, the team regularly faces off against well-known schools such as the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the University of Alabama.

As a club sport under MTSU Campus Recreation, the program is fully student-led, which balances competitive play with the teamwork and leadership that defines the Blue Raider spirit.

Palmer, who also leads the team on the ice, said the chemistry within the group has been the key to their momentum.

“We have an incredible group of guys,” Palmer said. “I’ve been around a lot of teams and there’s never been another team like this one. So, I think the bonds and friendships that we have is what makes hockey so awesome.”

As club president, Giblin emphasized the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the organization thriving.

“It’s really cool to be so hands-on with making the schedules and working on promotional stuff,” Giblin said. “My biggest goal as president is to not only help the team be as good as possible, but I want the games to be as fun as we possibly can make them.”

Watch the segment below:

Working on this package reminded me that MTSU Hockey represents far more than a club sport. It symbolizes student drive, community, and the power of passion to build something lasting.

To watch, listen

• “Out of the Blue” is available anytime on the university’s YouTube channel, the True Blue TV channel, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

• It also airs on Murfreesboro cable Channel 9 daily at 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; NewsChannel5+ at 6:30 p.m. Sundays; WKRN+ at 7 p.m. Thursdays and noon Sundays; and streamed on the MTSU Jazz Network through WMOT.org at 7 a.m. on the first Sunday of each month; and on other cable outlets in Middle Tennessee, so check local listings.

• It is also available as a podcast on iTunes and Google Play and as individual interview segments on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/453hxg3.

Watch previous episodes of “Out of the Blue” at https://mtsunews.com/out-of-the-blue.

— Karli Sutton (Karli.Sutton@mtsu.edu)