ECHL: Thunder Thoughts: Jasmine Honey

The Athletic Training Field is one that’s male-dominated, but Jasmine Honey has continued to make her way up the ranks, “I started my hockey journey at the University of New England. I was very fortunate to start my career with hockey there, “I’ve been an Athletic Therapist for the last 14 years now, the last eight have been with Men’s Ice Hockey, I made a lot of good connections while at UNE and was able to jump up into the SPHL last year with the Knoxville Ice Bears, and then I was able to make the jump up this year with the Adirondack Thunder, It’s tough to get your foot in the door in a male-dominated field, but you have to keep working at it, it’s just been a really rewarding experience for me this year,” said Honey. During her time at UNE, Honey oversaw multiple sports; however, to this day, she still won’t reveal what her favorite was, “I definitely fell in love with hockey, I loved all of the sports that I worked with, I’ll never say I had a favorite but hockey I was definitely the closest with because they were the only team I traveled with” said, Honey. The ECHL schedule has a very tight schedule as a lot of teams are spending most of the year playing three-in four’s or three-in three’s and I asked Jaz what it takes for her to keep everyone healthy during the 72-game-season plus playoffs, “It takes a lot of work, Fourtunettly I have a lot of buy-in with the guys; whatever I can do to help them, they’re all on board; I’ll put in whatever hours I need to make sure they can give 100% on the ice” said Honey.

It’s not often a player who’s in the minors gets to have the same trainer, but for Brady Fleurent, he’s had Jazmine Honey right by his side since he began college, and he understands Honey’s grind, “It’s awesome; it’s tough to break into the field as an AT in general, and after she got into college and wanted to work in pro sports, and I think she’s working her way up, there’s nothing but great things to say about her, and she’s great at her job hopefully she keeps doing well and hopefully is she wants to she can move up and do great things in this field,” said Fleurent. Fleurent, Like Honey, spent time in Knoxville after he graduated from New England College. He played in 24 games with the IceBears putting up 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in the 2021-22 season, and had 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points in 18 games this year before joining the Thunder. “Ya, It’s been fun; we’ve been in college together, and last year she joined me in Knoxville (SPHL) last year, and now this year I joined her here. It’s a cool relationship; it’s cool to have someone there that you’re comfortable with; it’s just funny how the world works sometimes; we’re both from Maine, and to kind of travel all over the world like that is kinda funny, we have a good bond, and she’s great at her job” said Fleurent. However, Jazmine put it best when describing the relationship between her and Fleurent, “I’m like his second mom; he’s definitely my kid; I’ve had him since his freshmen year, I followed him to Knoxville, and he followed me to Adirondack; I just can’t get rid of him,” laughed Honey.