Scott Cunningham had to hold back from laughing -- just for a minute.

He didn't want to upset one of his best forwards, Willie Boyle, when the Helena Bighorn asked him to take a look at signing an old friend, Sean Connolly.

"(Willie) told me about a buddy of his in Georgia who was playing roller hockey," recalled Cunningham, the Bighorns head coach, of the conversation that took place more than two years ago. "I didn't want to laugh in his face."

Of course, few could probably blame the coach. Though now gaining popularity in the South, ice hockey -- professional and at the youth level -- has really only been established there over the last generation.

"When I was a kid in northern Alberta, we didn't even think hockey existed in the United States," Cunningham said. "And the good hockey didn't."

Still, the coach promised to take a look at Connolly. After all, Boyle was from Orlando, Fla., and grew up in the thriving roller hockey scene there.

"I didn't expect much (from Connolly)," Cunningham said. "I figured he'd be here a week or two, then be sent down the road.

"What a great pick-up."

Two years after Boyle backed up his childhood friend, Connolly is returning the favor.

Helena's Southern boys have been two of their team's leaders since arriving at their new home. Boyle is the team's captain and the third-leading points scorer, while Connolly is an assistant captain and eighth on the list of points leaders.

The 20-year-olds are also about to take the NorPac's Cascade Cup champions back east, this time to Marlboro, Mass., for the USA Hockey Junior A Tier III National Tournament. They'll face the second-place team from the Atlantic Junior Hockey League at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

Both have made the trip before, joining the Bighorns in 2008 when they won an unprecented two games in the first round of the tournament before just missing out on advancing to the second round.

For them, traveling for hockey games has just been a way of life.

Growing up, they went to summer roller hockey tournaments across the East Coast and Southern states, as well as places like California and Colorado.

But, none of it prepared them for their arrival in the Treasure State.

"It was a culture shock," Connolly said. "Here, it's like everyone knows everybody."

While the two quickly adapted to the small-town atmosphere, they struggled with another change.

"The first winter was horrible," Connolly said.

All the young kid brought with him from Savannah, Ga., was long-sleeve shirts, jeans and a few jackets. Nothing heavy enough to combat the winter.

Until they arrived in Helena, neither Connolly nor Boyle had ever seen a heavy snow.

Unlike many northern hockey players who can remember learning to skate on nearby ponds, rivers and lakes, neither have ever ice skated outdoors.

Instead, they made the transition from wheels to blades.

Boyle said he first started playing roller hockey after seeing a professional roller hockey game for free.

He fell in love with the sport almost immediately and began playing when he was 10 years old.

"I used to play baseball," he said. "Once I started playing hockey, there was so much action, I couldn't go back."

He said that while he would skate on ice a few times a year, often at birthday parties or with friends, he hadn't planned on switching over to ice hockey until he was invited to a three-on-three, split-ice tournament with friends.

He said a player spotted him and asked him to try out for a team. Around the relatively old age of 16, he made the switch. Soon he was playing juniors in Arizona, before the team folded and Helena picked him up nearly two-and-a-half years ago.

Connolly started playing ice hockey even later in life.

By the time he was pressured by friends to make the switch, he had built up quite a reputation as a premier roller hockey player.

Cunningham even came to know of his accolades on a trip to Las Vegas. After a few hockey parents found out Cunningham was a coach, they began to rave about how good Connolly really is.

"They made comments that Connolly is one of the best roller hockey players in the country for his age," he said.

Connolly ended up making a big splash when he finally took to the ice, too.

As a teenager, he joined a high school hockey team in nearby South Carolina. He was only able to get in a game every week or two, but at the end of the season the team ended up winning the state title.

"That's when I first put on ice skates," he said. "(And) they kicked me out because I was from Georgia."

While Connolly and Boyle are both relatively new to the sport, they've become veterans for the Bighorns.

Cunningham said that while Boyle wears the "C" on his jersey, his leadership is less in the locker room and more on the ice.

Boyle never seems to slow down or tire, and he's one of the best defensive forwards on the ice.

"These guys are special players," Cunningham said. "They can put the puck in the back of the net, and shut down the opposition's top scoring lines."

Connolly, who stands 5-foot-10 and pretty much towers over the 5-foot-6 Boyle, is able to throw his body around a little bit more, but shares Boyle's ability to accelerate quickly to top speed.

Their teammate, Branden Parkhouse, who leads the team in scoring, said they also bring a level of patience to the game.

"They have a roller-hockey style," he said.

Since roller hockey teams only allow four players to skate out and was the first to abolish a red line, the game is much more open and fluid.

"They're not forcing something, but creating something by, often by cycling the puck down-low," Parkhouse said.

Off the ice, they bring a different style to the locker room, though most of it comes from Boyle.

Cunningham said that the smaller player often likes to let everyone know when he's in a building.

"Boyle's got the big-city attitude," the coach said.

Connolly is a little more the outdoors type.

Still, they're always hanging out, live together and rarely leave each other's sides.

And while their favorite thing to do is tease each other, they never allow anyone else in on their game.

"Whenever someone makes fun of Willie for being short, I always tell them 'Don't talk to him like that.' "

Followed by: "I got your back, Willie. I got your back."

Connolly might have his back, but Boyle knows where most of the insults are slinging from.

"He's the first one to bust out a joke," Boyle said.

Jeff Windmueller: 447-4065 or jeff.windmueller

@helenair.com