ORLANDO, FL – At this time of year, with all of the stresses of the holiday season, being able to sit down and watch a hockey game on television or the internet can be a soothing luxury. Attending a game can be a perfect three hour escape from worries and cares.
For people like Toby Kerner, the ability to watch a game is a diversion as well – a momentary diversion from the dangers they face on a daily basis.
Master Sgt. Kerner is a proud member of the United States Air Force’s 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, part of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing. 
This holiday season, he is stationed in Afghanistan working to train and advising the Afghan Air Force. It is his third deployment as an advisor, having been to Iraq from September 2006 to September 2007 and again from November 2008 to April 2009.
Kerner said that becoming a member of the Air Force was a dream come true.
“I grew up in Erie, PA and always wanted to join and be part of the Air Force so when I was 22 years old, I joined and am very glad I did,” Kerner said in an email conversation. “I have been deployed to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey and Afghanistan. I have been deployed five times since 2001 (parts of 2002-2003 and 2006 to present). The only two years since 2001 I haven’t been deployed were 2004-2005.”
Growing up in Erie, Kerner took to hockey as many kids did. He and his father would go to the Erie County Field House to watch the Erie Blades. The fact that the Blades won three consecutive championships added to the lure.
“Hockey is the most exciting sport to watch,” he said.
In the time that he has been a member of the Air Force, Kerner said he has followed the ECHL, CHL, ACHL, AHL, SPHL, NCAA and the NHL. When asked if there were any specific teams that he followed, Kerner admitted that he had several, understandable when one considers the fact that he has called 23 cities in 13 states “home” over the past 18 ½ years.
“The teams I considered my “home” teams are within four hours of wherever I was stationed. They included Raleigh, North Carolina (prior to the Hurricanes) from 1992-1997, Fayetteville, NC (1997-2006), Columbus, Georgia (2007-present) and the Hurricanes (1997-2006),” Kerner said. “I also follow Wheeling (ECHL), Wichita (CHL), Erie (OHL), Mercyhurst (NCAA) and Pittsburgh, Carolina and Tampa (all NHL). I have a lot of players, coaches, staff and fans from the various teams that I keep in contact with wherever I am. It’s like an extended family.”
It is no coincidence that Kerner found himself stationed near hockey wherever the Air Force sent him. In fact, it was all by design.
“It’s kind of funny when it comes to picking assignments. We list our preferences on what we call a “dream sheet”. If there is an opening or need at one of those bases, we can get assigned there,” he said. “I typically pick bases which have a hockey team in relatively close proximity. It has worked for the most part. Columbus is a three hour drive from Valdosta, Georgia but the fans there are first class people and very friendly. They make you feel right at home. My next assignment – Seymour Johnson AFB near Goldsboro, NC – is an hour from Raleigh and Fayetteville. The FireAntz also have awesome fans who very faithfully support their team.”
So what is a “typical” day like for Kerner and his mates half a world away? He said he really couldn’t say, mostly because it’s never the same from day to day.
“I really don’t know if there is such a thing as a typical day anywhere around here. In our jobs here, we advise and train the Afghan Air Force. It’s challenging but very rewarding,” he said. “We have people here from many different Air Force specialties, (members of) all four branches of the U.S. military and also have Canadians and Portuguese in our unit. We are definitely one of the most diverse units in the military.”
As the members of the 738th go about their jobs, they get the unique opportunity to learn about the local cultures while they are teaching. The interaction, especially with children, has given the troops a secondary purpose as well as providing an opportunity for people back home to chip in.
“We do our best to make positive differences wherever we go, especially for humanitarian missions. There is no better feeling in the world than knowing we make a difference,” Kerner said. “Even the school kids back home make a difference by sending such things as cards, letters, school supplies and hygiene items for the kids over here. They are part of the support team and without them, things such as humanitarian missions aren’t possible.”
An important part of life overseas is getting off-duty time to unwind. Kerner said that the off-duty or morale activities can vary from base to base. Recreation centers provide a variety of options from video games, pool tables and computers to movies and fitness centers.
Another option is partaking in television or radio broadcasts over the Armed Forces Network which brings many of the biggest sporting events to the troops all over the world. When a hockey game comes on, which Kerner said is once or twice a week, he has plenty of company.
“We work with Canadians so it’s always fun to go back and forth with them on hockey,” he said. “They do love their hockey.”
With AFN’s broadcasts focusing on high pro and major college events, following minor league teams can be a challenge. That’s where modern technology comes in. Since the SPHL, which is the league where Toby has hung his hat the last few seasons, streams all of its games online, he can watch them on a computer. Of course, the 9 ½-hour time difference creates a situation where live games come with breakfast instead of dinner and a snack.
“For most minor league games, I watch them on the B2 (now America One) Network. I also follow games via Pointstreak (a statistics site that provides live box scores and in-game updates). The time difference is 9 ½ hours from the east coast so it’s a matter of getting up at 5 am to watch. Sometimes the internet connection isn’t great but it’s better than nothing,” he said. “The funny thing is during the first intermission, I go and pick up breakfast, bring it back to my room, eat breakfast and watch hockey before heading to work. There’s nothing quite like eating eggs and fruit and watching hockey. I don’t watch every game, mostly the ones that have the potential to be action packed or have a big crowd. Getting up early makes for a long day but it’s worth it if my teams or whomever I am rooting for wins.”
Kerner is as passionate about hockey as he is about the Air Force and his job. Long time SPHL fans who frequent message boards know him by his screen name – “Piehole”. Fans who have attended games around the league, especially in Columbus and Fayetteville, may not know him by face but they know his voice. Boy do they know his voice.
You see, Toby Kerner is a “premiere” heckler. For those not familiar with the term, a heckler is someone who verbally taunts the opposition, trying to turn their focus away from playing the game. Kerner has been doing it since he began following the Erie Panthers in 1988 with his buddies Jay, Pat, Steve and Neal in section 22 at the Erie County Field House.
Over time, Kerner has turned his verbal badgering into an art form. He’s done it by keeping his taunts clean and adhering to a few “limitations”.
“One limitation I put on heckling is no bringing up girlfriends, wives or kids. Those are strictly off limits. I occasionally will bring up a brother, uncle or cousin but only if they are also in hockey and are in an upper (higher) league. That is the one time it is ‘ethical’ to bring up family (I guess ethical is a good word for it),” he said. “Profanity, vulgarity and obscene gestures are other no-nos. You can have a lot of fun without that stuff.”
He said that through the years he’s had many favorite coaches, players and bench staff that he’s heckled during games but became friends with away from the ice. Stan Drulia (former ACHL coach in Orlando and now the coach of the ECHL’s Wheeling team), Dennis Brogna (now the trainer for Wichita in the CHL), Mark Williamson and Bill Murray (SPHL Knoxville training staff), Mike Craigen (former player and now Knoxville coach) and Nick Niedert (presently with Danbury of the FHL) are just a few of the many who have incurred the “wrath” of Kerner.
“I’ve met quite a few players, coaches and equipment/training staff members who I’ve heckled and had a beer or lunch with quite a few or just chit-chatted,” he said. “If we win the game, great. If we lose, I’ll be the first to say good game and wish them well.”
Of course, there have been a few that didn’t see the humor in Kerner’s rants.
“Last year at Thanksgiving, I went to Fayetteville and the FireAntz were playing Knoxville. The Ice Bears coach at that time, Marc Rodgers, asked me if could “shut the $#%@ up”. I thought at that point in time that he wanted someone to talk to. I guess I was wrong because then I asked if he needed some anger management classes and he got even more ticked off. For the rest of that game, I was like game on,” Kerner said. “Two weeks later, Knoxville came to Columbus and I thought he was happy to see me yet again. I was wrong. He just wasn’t in the holiday spirit for some reason. Needless to say at that point in time, he wasn‘t getting added to my friends list on Facebook.”
Then there was John Gibson, who at one time was the coach of the Huntsville Havoc. Like Rodgers, Gibson wasn’t exactly enthralled with Kerner’s concept of fun.
“John Gibson is another coach who really didn’t care for me too much. I am not sure why because anytime the Havoc came to Fayetteville, I was also very nice to them. I went out of my way as an ambassador of good will to make sure they felt very welcome at the Crown Coliseum. He even called me a bad word a couple of times. I can’t figure out why either,” Kerner said. “I guess Gibby was happy when I moved to southern Georgia because it meant that he’d get to see my smiling face each time the Havoc came to Columbus. The Cottonmouths’ fans don’t care too much for the Havoc which made things even better. It was such a good combination. Add me to an already heated rivalry and the fun factor goes up even more.”
While Kerner kids a lot about his fame as a heckler, one thing he is very serious about his fondness for the SPHL’s fan base. He couldn’t say enough about how “phenomenal and first class” he has found them to be and the fact that many of them have become friends for life.
“We always go back and forth at the games, on Facebook, etc. but when it comes down to it, we all get along. I keep in touch with many of them,” he said. “It’s funny because the first time I ever went to Huntsville, I thought I’d be beat up from all the crap I gave their teams when they came to Fayetteville but the Havoc fans love their hockey and treated me very well. The Ice Bears fans are rabid when it comes to their hockey but are also wonderful people outside of the games.”
Naturally, Kerner has a particular fondness for the fans in Columbus and Fayetteville because of having been stationed near those two cities. He said that the fans there have become much more that just friends – they have become a support system.
“As for the Columbus and Fayetteville fans, words can’t even begin to describe how much they have meant to me both during my stays there and over here. I don’t want to name any names because there are so many to list. The one thing I can say is I’m extremely fortunate to have met so many awesome people in each city at the games,” he said. “Through my four deployments since the start of the SPHL (originally the ACHL, then the SEHL/ WHA2 and now the SPHL) from 2002-2003 to now, the fans have been behind us all they way. I can definitely say that their support -whether it be an email, card, letter or care package – provides us with the energy and motivation to carry us through our time over here. Even though I can’t make it to the games, they fill me in on all the happenings. There’s really no greater feeling in the world than to get a message that fans from all the cities are thinking of us and wishing us well.”
Kerner was quite complimentary about how the SPHL’s franchises work with the military bases located near them, giving special notations to Columbus, Fayetteville and Huntsville where he has seen firsthand how the franchises make it a point to involve the troops. With five of the eight teams now in the league having major military installations nearby, Kerner thinks that there is even more opportunity to bring the two together.
“The bases could easily increase attendance by 200 plus per game with a little bit of marketing. It’s just a matter of the teams sending representatives from the front offices to each base and working with the recreation, tickets and tours, and public affairs offices. Getting sizeable groups of military to the games is a win-win situation. It gives the troops and their families something to do and makes for a much more energetic crowd,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, the teams do a good job but if we can make things even better and increase attendance, it’s very much worth trying. I would actually go so far as saying that that having a military base next to an SPHL city is like an untapped resource. Once you find the way to tap into it, your attendance is going to go way up on a consistent basis.”
Kerner said that he is looking forward to his present deployment ending next year in time for the 2011-2012 SPHL season. Until then, following his favorite teams via the computer is getting him ready to return.
“It makes a huge difference because it gives me something to do in my off time. I will watch certain games by getting up at 4:30 or 5 in the morning before going to work. I can sit and watch on the computer which is much better than not seeing any hockey at all,” he said. “It also gives me time as I am watching the games to prepare for next season. I can either watch a game or read the recaps. I don’t think next season can arrive soon enough.”
The victims of Toby Kerner’s heckling may not think so but having him and the rest of his mates in the 738th – not to mention all of our brave military men and women – home can’t happen soon enough.
Until then, Master Sgt. Kerner said that the troops always welcome care packages from home. He said that candy, cookies, treats, magazines, books and DVDs are popular items but that anything except alcohol is welcome. He also asked that people send hygiene items and school supplies that the members of the 738th can take on humanitarian trips into Afghan cities and towns to give to the children. Anyone wanting to send items along can contact Kerner at TobyK241@aol.com for mailing information. A card or letter of thanks would also be a great morale boost.
At this time of the year, it’s the least we can do for those who are protecting our way of life. Happy Holidays and Godspeed to all of our troops. Stay safe.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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