RinkWise podcast: New Hampton coach Connor Gorman on the evolution of prep hockey

New Hampton coach Connor Gorman was once a standout for the Huskies. (Dave Arnold/NEHJ)

Connor Gorman is a lifer at New Hampton.

The Shrewsbury, Mass., native and current head coach of the Huskies played for New Hampton from 2009-2011.

After putting up 66 points (37 goals) in 35 games and earning All-NEPSAC honors as a senior, the forward spent a year playing junior hockey for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs of the EJHL, scoring 44 points (21 goals) in 44 games.

After juniors, Gorman played four years of Division 3 hockey at SUNY-Plattsburgh, graduating in 2016 after scoring 34 goals and 34 assists in 104 collegiate games. He then played two years of professional hockey with the SPHL’s Peoria Rivermen, posting back-to-back 36-point seasons.

Gorman returned to New Hampton as an assistant coach for the 2018-19 season. The following year, he became head coach. Under his watch, the Huskies are 66-66-15, coming off a 12-17-4 record last winter.

Gorman joined New England Hockey Journal editor Evan Marinofsky and writer Patrick Donnelly on the latest RinkWise podcast. They discussed various topics, including the New England Fall Prep League, the challenges of balancing development with competitive play, the evolution of prep hockey and much more.

RinkWise podcast: New Hampton coach Connor Gorman

What could change in prep?

Gorman: “I think the length of the season — we play 35 games and we use all 35 — I think that’s great. In the fall, I would love if we got two to three hours a week with our guys, and that’s not just the varsity team. That’s the entire program. For me, sometimes I think it’s silly that I have to sit in the warm room or walk my dog and make sure the rink hasn’t burned down while my guys have a captain’s practice. We’ve brought in some junior coaches to run our skates as well to help their recruiting and also get exposure for our guys. I’m always trying to think outside the box. I wish NEPSAC could bend a little bit and give us two or three hours a week with our teams. Maybe that will help iron out some habits earlier on. At the end of the day, all of us coaches love our schools and love our kids. I’m not sitting here saying I want those extra hours simply for a competitive advantage. I just want it to simply have my kids better developed.”

The importance of transferrable skills

Gorman: “The people who know hockey, they know what they’re looking for. One thing we talk about a lot with our kids is transferrable skills. If a kid’s going on a 1-on-1 and absolutely undresses a defenseman, goes in there and tucks it under the bar, let’s say that was a 1-in-20 chance. That’s not a great percentage. Is Middlebury College gonna go, ‘Wow, what a goal’? Of course they are, but they’re also looking at transferrable skills like screens, puck pursuits, forechecks and little things like high flips and putting pucks in space behind a defenseman. Like, OK, you’re undressing a D in prep school, but the best of the best are in college. So, how often is that really happening? Probably not as much, but a screen happens every offensive sequence. I look at it like that. … As you go from prep school to junior, you’ve got to find other ways to score and so on.”