Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Liberty will play against an FCAA All-Star team on Jan. 10, one of three games against increasingly challenging competition..
DI men’s hockey to bring afterglow of Christmas to Finland
12/24/2025 8:42:00 AM | Men's D1 Hockey
The Flames will participate in their third outreach to Hämeenlinna over Winter Break, facing some high-level competition and sharing the light of Christ in the community.
Soon after celebrating Christmas and the New Year with families and friends in the United States and Canada, members of Liberty University's Division I men's hockey team, along with two coaches and their wives and support staff, will travel to Helsinki, Finland, for a fifth Club Sports outreach to that Scandinavian country in seven years from Jan. 4-14, 2026.
This will be the men's team's third trip organized by LU Send in conjunction with Operation Mobilisation Finland and Kingdom Sports Hämpton, working with Pastor Dave Pike from Hämeenlinna Internation Christian Fellowship (ICF) and Freechurch. Only five current team members — senior forwards Sam Feamster and Ryan Finch, junior forward Mason Smith, junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau, and senior goalie Nick Bernstein — were a part of the last trip in January 2024, and only Head Coach Kirk Handy was on the first in 2020.
The Flames' 24 players, Handy and his wife, Jannie, Assistant Coach Ben Hughes and his wife, Emily, and their 8-month-old son, Rowan, along with seven support staff will fly out of Dulles (Va.) International Airport on Jan. 4 to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, before taking a shorter transfer flight to Finland.
Staff members include Club Sports Recruiting Coordinator and Director of Hockey Operations Brett Berthiaume, Hockey Operations Assistant John Cimba, Associate Athletic Trainer Tim Dofflemyer, Video & Analysis Intern Nolan Borek, Academic Integration Coordinator Emma Bladen, Assistant Director of Special Events Brooke Williamson, and Video Coordinator Jordan Chamberlain.
"I'm super excited to take our guys over there," Handy said. "It's always a great opportunity for our team to come together, to look into their own lives and see what God is doing and get a vision for what He is going to do. That's a huge part of it. To go to the same spot where we have been before, where we have already put roots in the ground. It will be fun for everyone in Dave Pike's church and for the community as well."
The Lady Flames' DI women's hockey team journeyed to Hämeenlinna in January 2023, and members of Liberty's disc golf team traveled to Tampere this past summer to volunteer at the PDGA World Championships, held in Finland for the first time. Liberty's DI men's hockey players are thrilled for the first- or second-time experience.
"This is going to be a really good trip for us to reset our focus, both spiritually and emotionally," said sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher, who traveled to Finland with the disc golf team in early August. "It's going to be really beneficial to us to remind us how good God is and what a blessing it is to be at Liberty. It's so special, and obviously God works in wonderful and mysterious and beautiful ways. We'll get to share the true meaning of what Christmas really is all about. I'm so excited for it."
The purpose of the trip is to use hockey as a platform to bring the Gospel to the local community, as well as to encourage and build up local churches while continuing to promote ministry through hockey in Finland.
The Flames will play a game of floor hockey with a Kingdom Sports team from Vapis after a Kids' Action Night on Jan. 6 at Pike's church, and lead on-ice practices and off-ice Olympics with HPK's U-10 hockey club in Hämeenlinna on Jan. 9-10. The schedule will also include evangelistic community events such as serving at a local church food bank and visiting the historic Hämeenlinna Castle and downtown Tampere on Jan. 8 and Helsinki on Jan. 12 before experiencing a sauna and outdoor ice bath in lake Kuusijärvi.
"At the end of the day, the main reason why we go overseas is to spread the Gospel," Finch said. "It is easy to get away from that over break, but it's also easy to stay in the Christmas spirit while we're over there. Hämeenlinna was where I got saved and baptized (in 2024), so I am excited to go back and do it again, with the amount of wisdom and knowledge I have now compared to before I was saved over there. It's going to be super fun."
"This trip will be awesome that God is using our team as vessels to go serve and shine a light into a place where Christianity has become more silent in this world, and to reminisce about how good God is and what an opportunity we have," Essenmacher added. "This trip will bring a mindset of servant leadership to our team, to serve with Pastor David Pike and share the Gospel and the Good News of Jesus Christ. What we'll be doing over there will be very impactful for the rest of our season, and the rest of our lives, honestly."
A secondary goal is to help build up local hockey teams now competing in the FCAA, formed in 2023, which is the equivalent of the ACHA or the NCAA in the United States. In addition to playing against the HPK Ice Dogs' U-18 team on Jan. 7, the Flames will challenge an FCAA All-Star team featuring a few players from the Finnish national team on Jan. 10 at Kuljetusrinki Arena in Vantaa and Nädäät, a team from Aalto University, Jan. 11 at Metro Arena in Espoo.
"It'll be great competition," Handy said, noting it could be a recruiting opportunity to bring Finnish players to Liberty. "There will be some great talent, so I am really excited to see how it goes."
"It will be awesome … to play kids our age that have played professional hockey to see how we match up," Finch added. "Win or lose, the trip to Finland will help us as a team overall to bond with one another. We're not in school now, but we'll be having fun and spreading the Gospel together. It will be a very fun and amazing way to start the semester."
Finch has undergone personal transformation since his first trip to Finland, evidenced in his game as well as in his walk with Christ. He said people like former teammate Kris Bladen, who was instrumental in leading him to the Lord, and Gary Steffes, executive director of Pure Encouragement, who led a team retreat over the summer, have inspired him to reflect God's light and share His love.
"As a person, it's definitely helped me to grow into loving others more and try to live like Jesus, and not be Jesus," he said. "We all fall short of the glory of God and sin, but if you live like Jesus, those sins will start going away. As a player, win or lose, and if I score or don't score, I'm still a child of God. I can find my comfort in the Lord. If I had a bad game before, l would mope around. Now, hockey is not my identity, and if I have a bad game, I can still glorify God and move on."
He prays that he and his teammates will be led by the Holy Spirit in their interactions with the Finnish people and flexible and available to be used by God however He desires during the upcoming outreach trip.
"Whatever the Lord calls us to do, we're going to be willing to do," Finch said. "We want to be open to everything going on, and to treat others with love, from the way we load up the bus to the way we play with the younger kids. We need to ask who we should share the Bible with, and we want to be respectful in showing the people in Hämeenlinna how we are different, and maybe they'll want to know why — because Jesus is living in us, and His love is the ultimate answer."
He said the team has a tremendous opportunity to witness to opposing players, which could leave the most lasting impact.
"People see the little things that you do," Finch said. "We want to love on them and show that we care for them. We can still work hard, hit people, play together as a good hockey team. But at the end of the day, we're going to invite them to pray with us and share a meal with them. We've just got to let God do His work through us."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
This will be the men's team's third trip organized by LU Send in conjunction with Operation Mobilisation Finland and Kingdom Sports Hämpton, working with Pastor Dave Pike from Hämeenlinna Internation Christian Fellowship (ICF) and Freechurch. Only five current team members — senior forwards Sam Feamster and Ryan Finch, junior forward Mason Smith, junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau, and senior goalie Nick Bernstein — were a part of the last trip in January 2024, and only Head Coach Kirk Handy was on the first in 2020.
The Flames' 24 players, Handy and his wife, Jannie, Assistant Coach Ben Hughes and his wife, Emily, and their 8-month-old son, Rowan, along with seven support staff will fly out of Dulles (Va.) International Airport on Jan. 4 to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, before taking a shorter transfer flight to Finland.
Staff members include Club Sports Recruiting Coordinator and Director of Hockey Operations Brett Berthiaume, Hockey Operations Assistant John Cimba, Associate Athletic Trainer Tim Dofflemyer, Video & Analysis Intern Nolan Borek, Academic Integration Coordinator Emma Bladen, Assistant Director of Special Events Brooke Williamson, and Video Coordinator Jordan Chamberlain.
"I'm super excited to take our guys over there," Handy said. "It's always a great opportunity for our team to come together, to look into their own lives and see what God is doing and get a vision for what He is going to do. That's a huge part of it. To go to the same spot where we have been before, where we have already put roots in the ground. It will be fun for everyone in Dave Pike's church and for the community as well."
The Lady Flames' DI women's hockey team journeyed to Hämeenlinna in January 2023, and members of Liberty's disc golf team traveled to Tampere this past summer to volunteer at the PDGA World Championships, held in Finland for the first time. Liberty's DI men's hockey players are thrilled for the first- or second-time experience.
"This is going to be a really good trip for us to reset our focus, both spiritually and emotionally," said sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher, who traveled to Finland with the disc golf team in early August. "It's going to be really beneficial to us to remind us how good God is and what a blessing it is to be at Liberty. It's so special, and obviously God works in wonderful and mysterious and beautiful ways. We'll get to share the true meaning of what Christmas really is all about. I'm so excited for it."
The purpose of the trip is to use hockey as a platform to bring the Gospel to the local community, as well as to encourage and build up local churches while continuing to promote ministry through hockey in Finland.
The Flames will play a game of floor hockey with a Kingdom Sports team from Vapis after a Kids' Action Night on Jan. 6 at Pike's church, and lead on-ice practices and off-ice Olympics with HPK's U-10 hockey club in Hämeenlinna on Jan. 9-10. The schedule will also include evangelistic community events such as serving at a local church food bank and visiting the historic Hämeenlinna Castle and downtown Tampere on Jan. 8 and Helsinki on Jan. 12 before experiencing a sauna and outdoor ice bath in lake Kuusijärvi.
"At the end of the day, the main reason why we go overseas is to spread the Gospel," Finch said. "It is easy to get away from that over break, but it's also easy to stay in the Christmas spirit while we're over there. Hämeenlinna was where I got saved and baptized (in 2024), so I am excited to go back and do it again, with the amount of wisdom and knowledge I have now compared to before I was saved over there. It's going to be super fun."
"This trip will be awesome that God is using our team as vessels to go serve and shine a light into a place where Christianity has become more silent in this world, and to reminisce about how good God is and what an opportunity we have," Essenmacher added. "This trip will bring a mindset of servant leadership to our team, to serve with Pastor David Pike and share the Gospel and the Good News of Jesus Christ. What we'll be doing over there will be very impactful for the rest of our season, and the rest of our lives, honestly."
A secondary goal is to help build up local hockey teams now competing in the FCAA, formed in 2023, which is the equivalent of the ACHA or the NCAA in the United States. In addition to playing against the HPK Ice Dogs' U-18 team on Jan. 7, the Flames will challenge an FCAA All-Star team featuring a few players from the Finnish national team on Jan. 10 at Kuljetusrinki Arena in Vantaa and Nädäät, a team from Aalto University, Jan. 11 at Metro Arena in Espoo.
"It'll be great competition," Handy said, noting it could be a recruiting opportunity to bring Finnish players to Liberty. "There will be some great talent, so I am really excited to see how it goes."
"It will be awesome … to play kids our age that have played professional hockey to see how we match up," Finch added. "Win or lose, the trip to Finland will help us as a team overall to bond with one another. We're not in school now, but we'll be having fun and spreading the Gospel together. It will be a very fun and amazing way to start the semester."
Finch has undergone personal transformation since his first trip to Finland, evidenced in his game as well as in his walk with Christ. He said people like former teammate Kris Bladen, who was instrumental in leading him to the Lord, and Gary Steffes, executive director of Pure Encouragement, who led a team retreat over the summer, have inspired him to reflect God's light and share His love.
"As a person, it's definitely helped me to grow into loving others more and try to live like Jesus, and not be Jesus," he said. "We all fall short of the glory of God and sin, but if you live like Jesus, those sins will start going away. As a player, win or lose, and if I score or don't score, I'm still a child of God. I can find my comfort in the Lord. If I had a bad game before, l would mope around. Now, hockey is not my identity, and if I have a bad game, I can still glorify God and move on."
He prays that he and his teammates will be led by the Holy Spirit in their interactions with the Finnish people and flexible and available to be used by God however He desires during the upcoming outreach trip.
"Whatever the Lord calls us to do, we're going to be willing to do," Finch said. "We want to be open to everything going on, and to treat others with love, from the way we load up the bus to the way we play with the younger kids. We need to ask who we should share the Bible with, and we want to be respectful in showing the people in Hämeenlinna how we are different, and maybe they'll want to know why — because Jesus is living in us, and His love is the ultimate answer."
He said the team has a tremendous opportunity to witness to opposing players, which could leave the most lasting impact.
"People see the little things that you do," Finch said. "We want to love on them and show that we care for them. We can still work hard, hit people, play together as a good hockey team. But at the end of the day, we're going to invite them to pray with us and share a meal with them. We've just got to let God do His work through us."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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