Pelini’s Putting Jacksonville Hockey on the Map

From playing backyard hockey with their parents to watching each other score on the college stage, Long Island, New York, natives Greg and James Pelini have carried their sibling rivalry into Jacksonville University’s inaugural season as teammates. 

James Pelini, 18, a marketing freshman, said that their mother learned to skate with them. Even today, she plays a few times a week.

“We both started really young,” Greg Pelini, 20, a flight operations junior, said. “I think we were about 5 or 6 years old when we first stepped on the ice, and ever since then, we played beginner hockey, and then we did house league, and then travel.”

And they didn’t stop there. Since they first picked up the skates in their backyard, the Pelinis have been playing competitively, but now in a whole new state.

For most in the Northeast, including the Pelini brothers, hockey was everything, especially among those who played in school. Some elected to stay close to home, just with the hopes of taking the ice on the collegiate scene. But as Greg was looking for colleges his senior year of high school, he started to search farther south – a place where hockey wasn’t as common.

“I wanted to go down South for college,” Greg said. “So, it definitely sparked my interest there when I knew [Jacksonville] had a very good and competitive aviation program.”

When Greg decided to move almost 1,000 miles south to Jacksonville, it wasn’t initially for the hockey or the weather, but the pilot couldn’t shake the feeling that Jacksonville could use a bit of the Northern game he’d grown up with.

“Since freshman year, I’ve been telling [the president of the university] how much a hockey team would benefit campus, the school, and everything,” Greg recalled. 

It wasn’t until Greg gave a campus tour to just the right person that plans for a JU hockey team began to take shape.

“I convinced [Michael Gugliotta] to come from UNF (University of North Florida) to JU, which is a big switch right there anyway --- two rivals. Once he committed to Jacksonville and found out there wasn’t a team, he kind of took it from there.”

Greg, of course, was excited to be a part of growing the game on his own campus and in northern Florida. Gugliotta asked Greg to be the Vice President and was named Alternate Captain; it has been history since then. A small group of JU students has been planning and scheduling for the inaugural season since February 2025, with most of it coming from Gugliotta.

“A big, big props to (Gugliotta),” Greg said. “Obviously, this wouldn’t even be a thing without him or his family.”

Even with all the excitement that comes with being a first-year program, there’s definitely a weight on the shoulders of its members.

“We want to make a statement and say, ‘Hey, listen… there’s hockey in Jacksonville, now there’s hockey at JU, you know, this is no joke. We got guys that are willing to come within the next couple of years and build this team up,” Greg said.

James believes the team will be successful, especially with the support of the Jacksonville community.

“I feel really good that we have a lot of people coming together to come to the games. It’s a lot on our back, but I feel like we can bring it all the way... with everyone there. It feels great.”

The brothers are not only receiving support from their new home in Jacksonville, but also from their family in Long Island.

“Obviously, hockey has been our whole life,” Greg recalls. “All around our family, not just us. My father and mother both play. As soon as they heard I have a part of it and I’m helping make the team with a couple other guys, they’ve been fully supportive. We couldn’t be here without those two and then the rest of the community and the families.”

Familial support is a big thing for James -- as a freshman at Jacksonville, he has only been away from home for a few months. He misses the dog, the cat, family, and going to his grandma’s house, of course.

“I have a lot of new connections. I have my brother here and my cousin, so that helps out a lot.

Nick Naumov, ACDC’s Second Star of the September and the Pelinis’ cousin, plays left wing for the Dolphins.

“[With] our cousin, who’s between us in age, a sophomore, who also came to Jacksonville... we’ve almost got a little family down here too,” Greg said. “His sister almost came down here for grad school, so we’re making our almost family down here, another family in Jacksonville.”

Jacksonville has quickly become a home for the Pelinis, but building that new sense of community hasn’t stopped with the relatives they share a city with. 

“What I’ve seen so far, since we’ve had a team, is the fans that have been coming out, probably three-fourths of them have never been to a hockey game in their life,” Greg said. “At least in Jacksonville, this is the first time we’ve had a team. The culture is growing, and it will eventually probably reach where New York’s at.”

Jacksonville has made a big splash in College Hockey South (CHS) so far this season, keeping a 4-0-0-1 record and impressing with a 2-0 sweep of St. Leo University on opening weekend. For James, this meant scoring his first collegiate goal, made even sweeter by the fact that he got to share the moment with his older brother.

“One of [Greg’s] friends wanted me to score very badly -- he was also wearing my jersey. I had Rocco Salvi and Dylan Cimino on the ice with me, and we had a little tic-tac-toe… it was pretty nice,” James remembers.

“It definitely got rowdy, definitely something people didn’t expect, but seeing him score one of the first goals was definitely really, really enjoyable,” Greg recalled. “[Getting] to experience college hockey together too… it’s the first year for both of us. We’re all going through it together.”

This weekend, Greg and James had a second opportunity to impress with their parents in town, playing the Florida Atlantic University Owls. On Friday, the Dolphins upset the Owls 3-1. Saturday’s game was a hard-fought battle that ended in a 4-4 tie, solidifying JU’s place as an undefeated team in CHS. 

“There’s a ton of other schools and other programs across the country and the world that don’t have the opportunity to play hockey, so I’m very glad that the sport itself is growing and people are getting more involved,” Greg said.

ABOUT College Hockey South: Founded in 2008, College Hockey South is a 29-school, 45 team intercollegiate hockey conference spanning eight southeastern U.S. states. College Hockey South is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization.