Pensacola loses its beauty

PENSACOLA, FLA:  The Ice Flyers’ favorite tough guy is hanging up his skates.

Earlier this month, wingman and beloved enforcer Joe Bueltel announced he would not be returning to the ice in October.

“Going into fall will be the first time I won’t be lacing up my skates for another season,” Joe announced in a social media statement on August 2.  “It is with a heavy but full heart that I walk away from the game that has given me everything. Hockey has blessed me with a lifetime of memories, achievements, friends, and with people I’ve been lucky enough to call family over the years. I could never do enough to give back to those fans and family who have supported me, and to them I say thank you with all my heart. Thank you to the teammates and coaches who had taken me aside and made me better every day. Thank you to friends and family who gave me words of encouragement to push me to be my best not only for my team but for myself. Hockey has been everything to me for the past 16 years; a world where I could be myself among those who appreciated me for what I did best.  I wasn’t the best at what I loved, but so many of you made me believe that I was and I thank you all for it. It is with a most grateful heart that I retire from the game I cherish on my own terms.”

Affable and outgoing, Bueltel’s true personality has been the polar opposite of his fierce on-ice nature.  A huge fan favorite of the second Ice Flyers’ championship season, his speed and incredible balance on the ice made him difficult for opponents to deal with when the gloves came off.  Fans would chant “Beauty” – his nickname – at the home games and even wore Bueltel faces on sticks.

“Section 117, rows A, B, and C… we were known as the Beauty section,” Denise Hemmenway, a loyal Ice Flyer fan said.  “We all loved Beauty.  We cheered and waved at him every game.” 

The ever humble and accessible Bueltel was this reporter’s first feature article for Pro Hockey News (Ice Flyers Find Their Fighter; Nov. 13, 2013.)

“As much as I want to keep playing I had to consider my health,” Bueltel said.  “Since I started playing at a more physical level I would take constant blows to the head that would shake me up.  Not so much from fighting, but from hits and incidental contact.  I’ve looked into what long term effects multiple concussions can have. I reached the point where enough was enough. I also had broken my foot back in May which needed surgery, and took that into account as well.”

Pensacola will still have its white sand beaches and palm trees blowing in the sea breeze.  But a little piece of what makes Pensacola beautiful is now a recollection.  “A life is like a garden,” Leonard Nimoy said in his farewell tweet.  “Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.”  Perhaps the same is true of a hockey career.

Photos courtesy of Vanessa Johnson, Denise Hemmenway, and Po10tial Magazine.

Follow the author on Twitter @RonnaReporter.