BATON ROUGE - For the first time in decades, hockey is back in the capital city. The Baton Rouge Zydeco is the new team on the ice. 

Players go through rigorous drills and practices to get better each game. If skating on ice was not hard enough, the sport also requires extreme hand-eye coordination for the puck to meet the goal. 

Hockey is a fairly dangerous sport. There are numerous risks that come along with the game, such as the most common injury: muscle strains and ankle sprains. The most serious knee injury is an ACL tear. Sometimes a chipped or even completely knocked out tooth happens when the puck hits an athlete's face.

Although sometimes risky, there are many benefits to the sport. It's a full-body workout that can improve cardiovascular fitness, lower body strength, and reaction times. Skating requires a lot of balance and coordination of movements.  

On the ice, hockey requires quick reflexes, sudden acceleration, and quick deceleration. It requires you to be alert, ready to act at any moment. It can force a player's brain to think quickly and make decisions under pressure.

To start becoming familiar with skating on ice, beginning with skates alone at a comfortable pace is the best way to go. Then, progress to adding gear and the stick and puck. 

The Baton Rouge Zydeco hockey team plays frequently at the River Center. They are in season right now, so to see them put their hard training and skills to the test, snag a ticket by visiting their website here.