In Part 1 of a three-part series examining the state of hockey in New England, NEHJ looks at why the region’s growth hasn’t mirrored other parts of the U.S., and why it’s not producing as many of the country’s top players as it did even less than a decade ago. Part 2, which will appear in the September issue, will explore societal and cultural changes and their impact on the game. Part 3, which will run in October, will examine strategies for improvement going forward.
Keith Tkachuk isn’t walking through that door. Tom Barrasso isn’t walking through that door. Jeremy Roenick isn’t walking through that door.
When Rick Pitino made that infamous statement, using the names Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, he was trying to make the point that things had changed. The perception, or the expectation, of fans that the Celtics were going to be championship contenders forever was built on the facts of a decade prior when the team had arguably the greatest frontcourt ever assembled.
That was then and this is now.
So, too, has hockey in New England changed.
To those who think back to high school and prep hockey in the 1980s, and names like: Tkachuk (Medford, Mass.), Barrasso (Stow, Mass.), Roenick (Marshfield, Mass.), Brian Leetch (Cheshire, Conn.), Brian Lawton (Cumberland, R.I.), John LeClair (St. Albans, Vt.), Tony Amonte (Hingham, Mass.), Shawn McEachern (Waltham, Mass.), Bobby Carpenter (Beverly, Mass.), Tom Fitzgerald (Billerica, Mass.), Bill Guerin (Wilbraham, Mass.), Ted Donato (Dedham, Mass.), Mathieu Schneider (Woonsocket, R.I.), Chris Terreri (Providence, R.I.) and so many others, things haven’t changed for the better.
To others, hockey in New England is still good; it’s just that there are a lot more players out there. Over the last 17 years, players registered with USA Hockey have more than doubled, but Massachusetts hockey (54.9 percent) and the New England district (53.5 percent) has not kept pace. More recently, the growth has been smaller or there have been losses.
Meanwhile, Europeans have gone from representing 10 percent of the NHL’s players to 25 percent in 2007-08. Many observers acknowledge it’s unreasonable to expect one area to continue producing such a batch of standout players.
Either way, there are some facts that lead to some interesting thoughts and conversation:
* Last year’s U.S. National Under-17 team in the National Team Development Program had no New Englanders on it.
* From 1984 to 2001, New England placed at least four players on each national junior team that competed at the World Junior Championship. From 1984 to ’90, the number ranged from seven to 11. From 2002 forward, New England had four players only once.
The region has sent three players twice, two players once, one player twice and zero players once. In 2008 and ‘09, it was three and two, respectively, and that’s counting Boston University’s Colin Wilson, who was born in Greenwich, Conn., but raised in Winnipeg.
* On the last U.S. Olympic team in 2006, New England was represented by the fewest players -- four -- since four players were on the 1980 team. On six teams from 1984 to 2002, there had always been at least six, with highs of 16 in 1992 and 13 in 1988.
* Still, Massachusetts has produced the second-most NHL players from the U.S., 161, which trails only Minnesota at 193, according to hockeyreference.com figures. However, Massachusetts has seen a decline in the number of players who have made NHL debuts from the 1980s (52) to the 2000s (29). Minnesota (46 and 45) and Michigan (31 and 30), the two other largest producers of NHL players, have remained steady.
* As far as the NHL draft, New England has remained steady with an average of two players taken in the first two rounds since 1981. Granted, draft rules have changed at times regarding age, and now there are 60 picks in the first two rounds, not 42, because of expansion.
Food for thought. And debate.
Why are we where we are?
New England Hockey Journal discussed the state of hockey in New England with a collection of pro scouts; college, prep, high school and youth coaches; camp directors; former NHL and collegiate players; the heads of USA Hockey’s Massachusetts and New England districts; and USA Hockey’s assistant executive director for hockey operations.
Opinions ran the gamut.
“I don’t buy it (that New England hockey is down),” said longtime USA national festival coach Steve Dagdigian (Needham, Mass.), who just finished a long and successful run as head coach at St. Sebastian’s. “Look at the BC lineup. Where did the majority of them grow up? They played here. There’s still some excellent players and excellent hockey here.”
Still, Dagdigian, like most people interviewed, acknowledged there are always ways to improve.
“I think (New England) hockey is good; there are just a whole lot more kids competing nationally,” said John McNamara (Newton, Mass.), a Boston College hockey alum who coaches in the Boston Jr. Eagles program of the Eastern Hockey Federation and at the Belmont Hill School. “It makes us all think differently. It makes everybody reach down to say, ‘How can we do a better job?’ ”
Others think hockey in the region needs an overhaul.
“You look at the fact we have fewer kids playing more hockey and it’s not working,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato (Dedham, Mass.), who went from Catholic Memorial High School to the Crimson to the NHL. “The game has been taken away a bit from the community and it’s now becoming kids are 10-11 years old and are hockey mercenaries already, all over the map. … We have a lot of people kidding ourselves with the fact that we think we’re still one of the top states. At the older levels, 15 through 20 years old, we’re a player, but no where near the player we were 10 years ago.”
Neil Shea (Marshfield, Mass.) was a BC teammate of McNamara’s, coaches with the EHF’s South Shore Kings and is a scout for the Colorado Avalanche. To him, there are too many teams and too much money.
“Some of these (team operators) should just wear ski masks because they’re robbing the bank,” Shea said. “Telling a 6-year-old who just learned to skate you’re an AAA player is the worst thing you could do to a child. We’re rewarding kids who haven’t accomplished anything.”
These are some of the main issues that came up in our review:
* that there are more hockey players nationally and New England makes up a smaller percentage than it once did;
* the impact of NHL expansion and the lack of strong Bruins teams in recent years;
* fewer players who are playing too much hockey;
* too much specialization by players at too young an age;
* a need for many players to play other sports;
* too much structure;
* societal and parental changes;
* too many teams;
* cost.
Let’s start by taking a look at the numbers. In 1991-92, Massachusetts was the third-largest of USA Hockey’s 11 districts in terms of players registered, according to USA Hockey registration data. In 2007-08, Massachusetts was fifth. The New England district (the five remaining states) was sixth in 1991-92; in 2007-08 it was ninth.
Both districts have shown growth. Massachusetts went from more than 27,000 players to nearly 43,000, while New England grew from nearly 22,000 players to 33,600. While that equates to better than 50 percent growth for both districts, USA Hockey grew at a rate of 103 percent, from more than 230,000 players in 1991-92 to more than 468,000 players in 2007-08.
In 1995-96, Massachusetts reached 40,000 registered players for the first time. Since then, growth has been limited to seven percent, while New England increased by 10 percent. During this period, USA hockey has grown by 27 percent nationally.
In the last few years, both Massachusetts and New England have experienced small declines.
Other traditional strongholds also experienced growth below the national rate: Michigan (12 percent); “Minnkota” (18.7 percent), which was Minnesota and the Dakotas until 2006-07, when Minnesota became its own district; Central (9.9 percent), which is Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska; and New York (0 percent).
Clearly, New England is not alone in experiencing slower growth.
Playing field leveled
So, how has USA Hockey grown that much more nationally? Non-traditional hockey areas whose numbers took off since the NHL entered those markets: Dallas, Denver, San Jose, Miami, Tampa, south Florida, Phoenix, Atlanta and Carolina.
Since 1995-96, the Rocky Mountain district (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah) and the Southeastern district (Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia) have accounted for nearly half of USA Hockey’s growth. These two districts supplied about 45,000 of the 100,000 players added in that time, a rate of more than 130 percent for each district.
Going back to 1991-92, Rocky Mountain has gone from 8,220 players to 39, 459 (a 380 percent increase) while Southeast has gone from 6,718 to 38,990 (a 480 percent increase). Both totals eclipsed the New England district in 2005-06.
The Pacific district, comprising Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, passed New England in 2006-07. Pacific has grown 176 percent from 14,032 to 38,780 since 1991-92.
Those numbers also reflect general population shifts in the U.S. from Eastern states to Southern and Western states.
Sun Belt states aren’t just playing football any more. To look at rosters of recent U.S. national junior teams, national select teams, and national Under-18 and Under-17 teams, as well as USHL and major junior teams, places like Florida, California and Texas turn up more and more as players’ home states.
The 2009 U.S. national junior team had as many players from California (Mitch Wahl and Jonathon Blum) as New England (Wilson and Jimmy Hayes of Dorchester, Mass.).
The 2008-09 NTDP Under-17 team featured four players from California, two from Illinois and one each from Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada and Texas. There were no New England players.
Joining the NTDP, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is a life-changing decision and monumental commitment, so it’s not a completely arbitrary measure of regional hockey strength. It’s also a shorter move for a Midwest kid.
Noble and Greenough forward Billy Arnold (Norwood, Mass.) was offered a spot in 2008-09, but declined. He did accept for this season. Other New England players have declined one, if not two, invitations. But the non-traditional areas represented while an area like New England is shut out do highlight the shift.
“My personal opinion is: Who cares where kids come from as long as they’re coming and as long as they’re U.S.-born,” said Bob Corkum (Newbury, Mass.), associate head coach at Maine and a 12-year NHL veteran. “The playing field has been leveled as far as where hockey players come from and it’s a direct result of NHL expansion into places like San Jose and Anaheim.”
With that expansion, the current and former NHL players in those new hockey cities get involved in youth hockey and develop programs with solid instruction and structure.
Corkum cited 13-year NHL veteran and former Phoenix Coyotes player Jim Johnson and the P.F. Chang’s AAA program he runs in Arizona. Former Northeastern and minor pro forward Dan Lupo (Somerville, Mass.) runs the Florida Everblades. Former NHL defenseman Uwe Krupp is involved with Thunder hockey in Atlanta; Huntsville, Ala.; and Nashville.
Former Bruins goalie Rob Tallas has worked with teams in Florida. Former St. Louis Blues player Jeff Brown started the St. Louis AAA Blues and has Al MacInnis involved. Brown is now coaching the NAHL’s St. Louis Bandits, whose owners include former Blues Brett Hull and Kelly Chase.
Larry Reid (Rumford, R.I.) is the managing director for the New England district of USA Hockey. He recalled people laughing at him when he predicted teams from Texas and California would compete for USA Hockey youth national championships within five years after NHL teams moved in. It took less than five years.
“There is no doubt we are not producing the players we were,” Reid said, “or, we are and other areas are producing better.”
Prior to 1972, every USA Hockey national champ came from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan or Minnesota. Prior to 2000, the only true non-hockey state to win one was California. Since 2000, teams from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri and Texas have won.
“We have great kids coming from all sorts of areas,” says Dagdigian, the former St. Sebastian’s coach. “We still have the same amount of Division 1 slots. There are more players from more areas of the U.S., not to mention the Europeans; you have to expect there to be less from places like Massachusetts.”
Taking their cue?
On the flip side to the impact of expansion, is the theory that the struggles of the Bruins prior to last season has affected hockey in the region.
There is entire generation of Bruins fans in this area, now in their 30s and 40s, who never followed a bad team growing up. After missing the playoffs in 1966-67, the Black and Gold qualified for 29 straight postseasons, including the Stanley Cup championships of 1970 and 1972. The NHL re-aligned its divisions for the 1974-75 season, and over the next 21 years, the Bruins finished first or second in the Adams Division every year but four.
The last decade, though, has been rough. Starting with 1996-97, Boston missed the playoffs five times in the next 10 seasons, bottoming out with the back-to-back last-place finishes of 2005-06 and 2006-07. The big question: What has that done to the local game?
Some, like Nobles coach Brian Day, say hockey is so ingrained in the culture of the region, he finds it hard to believe it had an impact.
Some have said they’ve already seen more kids playing street hockey or out on ponds last winter, with the B’s resurgence these past two years.
Jerry Buckley (Needham, Mass.), a player agent, commissioner of the Eastern Hockey Federation and a BC hockey alum, noted that each surge in hockey interest was sparked by some event: Bobby Orr in the 1960s and 70s, the U.S. Olympic team in 1980 and NHL expansion in the 1990s.
BC coach Jerry York (Watertown, Mass.) and goalie camp director and BU goaltending coach Mike Geragosian (Stoneham, Mass.) both feel that the Bruins’ buzz last year will help generate interest in the game.
In some parts of New England, just the availability of NHL hockey on TV is an issue, said Green Mountain Glades coach Chris Line (Essex Junction, Vt.). In some parts of Vermont, Line said, you need a dish to get NESN to see the Bruins. Otherwise, you’re dependent on VERSUS, which airs far fewer games than ESPN and its related channels used to.
Even for the New England kids who are keeping our region’s numbers up, a number of cultural and societal changes have affected the way they develop their games. In Part 2 of this feature, we’ll begin our examination there.
