Since 2010, men’s ice hockey has had one voice call their games.

Alastair Ingram is the assistant director of Athletic Communications, serves as the voice of the men’s hockey team and is the media contact for men’s ice hockey, cross country and track and field.

A 2008 graduate of Syracuse University and a native of Bedford, Massachusetts, Ingram said he first got involved in broadcasting as a sideline reporter for ESPNU at Syracuse football games.

“They wanted a student radio guy to do it, and I was lucky enough to get picked [for the job],” Ingram said. “I had never really been on TV before, so it was  nerve-racking at first, but it was still awesome to be on the sideline and hold that ESPN mic.”

After Syracuse, Ingram said he returned home to Massachusetts to find a full-time job. After doing a few internships for ESPN Radio and working for Babson College, he landed the job at UVM.

It took him a year and a half to get the job at UVM, Ingram said.

“Initially I was only covering women’s basketball, but a slot opened up for men’s hockey after the guy left for the [NHL] Coyotes. I had never broadcasted hockey before.”

Ingram hit the job market in the middle of the recession, and he said  that it was difficult to find a full-time job.

“I was living at home, but it was more of an emotional strain because you want to try to have a job as soon as you graduate. I was a waiter on the side. I was doing a lot of radio stuff, but it was all volunteer at that point. I didn’t feel like I had made it yet,” he said.

Ingram’s sister was a senior when he started the job at the University, and he said  that although it was not the driving factor in coming to Vermont, it was nice to have some family in the area.

“I was thrown into the fire, right off the bat. It’s probably the hardest sport to call out of all the sports that I’ve done, simply because it’s so fast. But I felt like I’d made it,” Ingram said.

Ingram’s first game at UVM was a women’s basketball game against Laval University.

“Their entire roster had French-Canadian names. They all had hyphenated names, so it was an experience trying to say them all correctly,” he said.

His first hockey game was at UMass-Amherst in 2010.

“I was going solo. It was so fast – I was behind the play the entire game,” he said. “You have to remember so many more players than for basketball almost 20 guys for each team. It served as an eye opener.”

Ingram works closely with the Cats, and said that last year’s senior class was the group that he was closest with.

“Connor Brickley, [now with AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage] actually interned for me,” Ingram said. “His class [2014] were first-years when I started, so it’s like I came in with them.”

Ingram said he draws his inspiration from legendary Boston Bruins’ radio broadcaster, Dave Goucher.