Mike Little made a big first impression when he first showed up at tryouts for the Springfield Pics. Before the drills had even started, coach Rob Bonneau couldn’t help but notice the 5-foot-9, 185-pound defenseman from Enfield, Conn.
“He actually just showed up. He had long hair. He had two different colored socks. He actually got noticed that way,” Bonneau recalled.
Whether intentional or not, Little’s personal style drew the initial eye. Soon, his actual play would draw attention, too. “He went from not even on the radar to ‘who is this guy,’” Bonneau said. “At that point … we didn’t really let him walk out of the building.”
In the lineup, Little no longer needed goofy socks to be noticed. He quickly became one of the Pics’ most valuable players. His two-way play was a driving force for the team over his two seasons. When asked if he had ever considered bumping Little up to forward — a move that wouldn’t be absurd, given his stature — Bonneau said it never crossed his mind.
“We just actually wanted him to join the play a lot,” the coach said. “He was just a really good offensive defenseman. He always knew when to get back. He was almost a little bit before his time. He played the way that defenseman do, now. The other reason why we never switched him back was because he was plus-70 one year and plus-90, which is unheard of.”
Little’s play with the Pics soon would attract another Springfield team. Always looking for diamonds in the rough, American International College hoped Little could have the same kind of impact on its program. It wouldn’t be as immediate. In his first two seasons, Little had to earn more responsibilities, and the coaching staff was trying to ensure that his first priority would be his own end before he tried to contribute on the far blue line. This didn’t bother Little as much as one might think.
“I was able to play against other teams’ top lines every night. It really helped improve my defensive game. It forced me to become a better player, offensively. It forced me to improve my creativity,” Little said.
As an upperclassman, he gained more ice time, especially on the power play, and the points followed. He led Yellow Jackets defensemen in scoring as a junior, and matched that scoring output, again, as a senior. When his collegiate career wrapped up, he earned a spring tryout with Reading in the East Coast Hockey League.
Even though he believed he had performed well in that seven-game stint, the Royals weren’t prepared to include him in their longer plans. Luckily, the Stockton Thunder recognized what he had to offer. Little tried to deflect some of the credit to luck.
“I was fortunate that I had a good camp and numbers were in my favor,” he humbly said. Soon, the numbers would be in Stockton’s favor. Delving deeper into his offensive side, Little paced the Thunder with 41 points as a rookie. Aside from impressing the organization, it earned him a spot on the ECHL All-Rookie Team. His offensive output stemmed from some shrewd wisdom, as a rookie.
“They’re not looking for stay-at-home, 5-9, defensive defensemen,” he realized, and he adjusted his game accordingly.
The next season, he lost a couple points off his previous total, but he still led the defensive corps. His all-around game helped lead the Thunder to the ECHL finals. Following that run, the realities of the American minors set in. Little found himself moving to Florida. He didn’t lament the change. He enjoyed his time with the Everblades. The team wouldn’t match the success of Stockton, but he kept raising his own level. Even though the defenseman might have been coveted more for his offense, in the 2014-15 season, he tied for the ECHL lead with a plus-46 rating. The performance earned him ECHL Defenseman of the Year honors, as well as another crack at the AHL.
The last promotion was to the Springfield Falcons. In front of his home crowd, which must have been saturated with family and friends, Little would pick up his only two AHL points, a pair of assists.
This string of success put him at a crossroads. The AHL was, clearly, a possibility. He would have to battle to stay, but he had shown he could hack it. “If a good offer was there, I would have taken it,” Little intimated. “I think a little bit of it was teams were hesitant, I still think, about my size, and holding up to the rigors of a full season.”
As tempting as it was to try to climb the ladder a little higher, Little decided his future was better served in Europe. His Everblades coach, Greg Poss, had formerly coached in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He helped sell the continent to his talented defenseman.
Little almost regretted it. As he tried to get his footing, he was kicked around Europe. Offseason, sports hernia surgery had gotten him behind the 8-ball. When he showed up to German camp in Iserlohn, the staff developed some trepidations. They passed him on to Graz of the Austrian League. When the 99ers realized their season was going nowhere fast, they included Little in their roster-shedding itinerary.
“In a shorter season, everything is magnified,” Little noted of Graz’s struggles. “We lost our coach there, and then they made some changes. I was part of the changes. I was really close to coming back to the States.”
Before he could, as usual, he found a team ecstatic to have him. Even in the shortened season with Kassel, Little made major contributions. He was one of three players on the Huskies producing at more than a point a game. He almost matched that in the playoffs, as he helped guide the Huskies to the DEL2 championship. His dominance in that league earned him a new shot at the big one. Once again, the DEL wouldn’t treat Little kindly.
“Our team [Krefeld] really, really struggled. We had a coaching change. The guy that brought me in, he moved on. I didn’t get quite the opportunity I would’ve liked, at least being able to play a little more special teams. In that league, a lot of points are scored on the power play. The opportunity to stay in the league, I don’t know how much it was there.”
While part of him wanted to take another crack at Germany’s top league or even Austria, Little also wanted to repay a club that had steadfastly believed in him. “I opted to go back to Kassel. That was a spot that really meant a lot to me. The fans there, the culture there for hockey was fantastic.”
True to form, he finished second among his team’s defensemen upon his return. The only one to best him was former NHLer James Wisniewski. Last season, however, injuries slowed him down. He did his best to battle through, but his 18 points were a clear sign that he was being held back.
This season, former teammate Patrick Galbraith lured him north. Little decided to make the move to Denmark and join SønderjyskE. For the first time in his Euro career, he finds himself outside Central Europe, but he has approached the change like the veteran he now is.
Little recognizes how every league offers a new chance to show what you can do.
“Every level and every place you go, I always think you have to learn the game at that level. Everything’s different, no matter what league you go to,” he said.
Little has been a quick study. Through his first 11 games, he leads his team with 12 points. The total has him among the overall league leaders. Another strong season seems to lie ahead. Yet, no matter what awaits, Little hasn’t lost sight of what really matters. The kid who used to drive Coach Bonneau nuts with his incessant hockey talk hasn’t lost his love for the rink.
“You know it’s a job, but, at the same time, all the teams you play for and everything, growing up and having fun, you want to make sure you never lose that,” Little said.
It’s a point echoed by a lot of players, and Little has realized its importance, too.
“So far, here in SønderjyskE,” he said, “we’re having a lot of fun.”
