Neil Shea didn’t just listen to the advice his dad gave him. The 19-year-old Chicago Steel forward took it to heart.
This past June, for the second time, Shea wasn’t selected in the National Hockey League draft. He didn’t expect to be taken, although part of him was hoping his name would be called. But instead of letting his disappointment get the best of him, the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder has followed the words of his father, also named Neil, an amateur scout for the Colorado Avalanche.
“My dad told me to put my head down and do my best, and don’t worry about what anyone is saying about me or what any other players are doing,” Shea revealed. “He said to just focus on myself and focus on getting better as a player and as a person. At the end of the day, if I just focus on myself, anything can happen.”
Shea entered the 2018 NHL draft following a spectacular second season with Lawrence Academy. After tallying 33 points (16-17-33) in 24 contests in his first campaign playing prep school hockey, he blew past that number with 58 points (24-34-58) in 32 games last season. The ride ended in grand fashion when his club captured the Piatelli/Simmons small-school championship.
“As a line, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Sam Colangelo and I jelled really well,” Shea said. “We had a lot of good chemistry. After a slow start, our whole team was able to come together and it led to the championship. It was a great feeling to get that done.”
Shea started the 2017-18 campaign in the United States Hockey League with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, with whom he scored a goal and an assist in 10 matches. So far in his return to the USHL this season with the Steel, he has nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points in 32 games, as of Jan. 17.
“Every night you are playing against tough competition,” he said. “The players are older, stronger and faster. It’s cliché to say but that’s what it is. Everyone in this league can play. You have to be ready to go every single night, every single shift.”
Shea certainly has been ready for each game this season, and the Marshfield, Mass., native credits his improvement to working with Belfry Hockey, a skill-based training organization that has partnered with the Steel to aid them with player development. The program was created and is led by Darryl Belfry; alongside him is Adam Nicholas, owner of Stride Envy Hockey.
Together with Steel director of player personnel Tristan Musser, they host skating and skills sessions three times a week before the team’s practices.
“They help us with details of the game, such as playing in the O-zone, how to take away defenders’ sticks and how we can get by a defender or hold them off,” said Shea, who has a left-handed shot. “They watch a lot of film and try to teach us stuff that’s helpful in situations in games.”
Many of the tasks they do are challenging at first, but with practice and patience the players perfect them. This, of course, leads to better performances in games.
Asserted Shea: “Some of the skating things we do really helps out, whether it’s some of the cutbacks we work on or something we call a jab turn, where you have to pivot.”
The coaches also help the Steel players with the mental side of the game.
Shea already has taken a crash course in this subject by living away from home with a billet family.
“You have to learn how to be more responsible and how to manage your time better than you did in the past because you’re away from home, but our billet families do a great job of making us feel at home,” he said. “They’re a big part of our lives and we grow big relationships with them that will last forever.”
But just because Shea’s nearly halfway across the United States from his folks doesn’t mean he doesn’t talk to them. Quite the contrary.
“After games, I call my dad and we go into detail about what he thinks I could’ve done better,” Shea said. “During the week, it’s more father-and-son talk. I call my mom (Lorraine) after games, too. She’s awesome and I enjoy talking to her. If I didn’t play my best game, I’ll call her first instead of my dad.” He chuckled and added, “Maybe she doesn’t know as much about hockey, so she’ll tell me I played well no matter what.”
He also chats with his older brother, Patrick, a 2015 seventh-round draft selection of the Florida Panthers who’s in his junior year at the University of Maine. One segment of their conversations focuses on what college hockey is like, since Shea will be attending Northeastern University in the fall.
“It’s a big adjustment so I’m doing everything I can to prepare myself,” Shea explained. “It’s going to be another step in the speed of the game. You have less time to make plays, have to think faster and have to be able to take a hit. There are going to be guys on you quicker. The pace of the game is faster. You’re playing against strong men at that level, too, so you have to be physically in it every night and ready to go.”
For some time, it seemed as though the Shea brothers would one day be college hockey teammates. Before Neil committed to Northeastern, he originally planned on going to Maine.
“When I committed to Maine, I was younger, and knowing my brother was going there, I kind of jumped on the opportunity to play college hockey,” Shea remembered. “I didn’t really put much thought into it. As I got older, I thought about it more. The opportunity to be closer to home, in the city (Boston), and the opportunity to play in the Beanpot was something I always wanted, so I decided to try to find an opportunity to do that, and luckily that presented itself. To be able to go to Northeastern, be in the city and play in the Beanpot, something I’ve watched my whole life, is going to be really exciting.”
What will also be exciting is being Hockey East enemies with Patrick, who will return to Maine for his senior season.
“We haven’t really talked about going against each other, but in the back of our minds we’ve thought about it,” Shea said. “You’ve seen it before in hockey. When brothers face off it’s always special. It’s going to be fun to play in those games. I’m looking forward to it next year.”
Until then, he will continue to apply his dad’s words of wisdom in all aspects of hockey and life.
“The best players are going to make (the NHL),” Shea concluded, “whether they’re drafted or not.”
