Playing in the United States Hockey League is often a necessary and crucial step in a player’s development on the way to the college level.
It’s all hockey, all the time. For the many New England natives spread all across the league’s footprint throughout the Midwest, the experience allows them to adjust to life away from home, just like it will be like at the college level.
For Kyle Haskins, being away from home -- for the second straight year with the Waterloo Black Hawks -- is nothing new. The Huntington, Vt., native left his home in the Green Mountain State for the South Kent Selects Academy in 2015 and played three seasons there before making the move to the USHL.
“I don’t think the transition into college is going to be too difficult now because I’ve lived in two different areas over the last few years,” the Michigan State commit said. “It’s going to be a new environment and it will be an adjustment going back to class, but from a hockey perspective it’s really helped me adjust to new levels of the game more quickly.”
After starting playing for the Green Mountain Glades during his youth career and beginning his pre-college days at Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington, the 5-foot-10, 191-pound left-shooting forward did, indeed, view moving to the Selects Academy and then the USHL as key opportunities to develop his game as best as possible for the next level.
That move continues to pay off for Haskins during his second USHL season as his offensive numbers are jumping. He has scored 10 goals -- just two behind his 58-game season total in 2018-19 -- and seven assists through the first 41 games this year.
As the season draws on, Haskins has seen his individual play improve and his confidence continue to grow at the same rate as his strength and quickness, both of which have improved since the last offseason.
Those are certainly some of the most important considerations for a player who is taking the final steps toward making his college debut in the competitive Big Ten ranks next season. It’s all about preparation and playing the game the right way.
“I got off to a bit of a slow start, but right before Christmas I started to find where I left off at the end of last year,” Haskins said. “I’ve progressed as a player a lot more from last year. I think it’s really started to be noticeable. You have a little bit more confidence and getting more playing time as a second-year guy, a more reliable guy in the lineup.”
Veteran head coach P.K. O’Handley has seen Haskins’ development in a similar light. Experience truly does pay off and has helped to develop a more well-rounded, successful player in all aspects of his game.
“I think he’s really understanding a lot more of when to go or not to go without the puck,” said O’Handley. “That comes with experience and it’s such an important asset. I think he’s playing really, really well for us. He’s in great shape physically and with that goes confidence, so he’s playing a lot more of a physical game now, that’s creating more puck touches for him and I think his ability to make plays is getting better every day.”
Although Vermont isn’t churning out hockey prospects to the Division 1 level as regularly as, say, Massachusetts or his former prep home in Connecticut, Haskins knows that one of the major goals of any aspiring hockey player can be achieved from anywhere. No matter where the game leads, hard work and being surrounded by the right people go a long way.
One of the latest examples of that hard work paying off, Haskins points to Boston College defenseman and Florida Panthers prospect Ben Finkelstein (South Burlington, Vt.) as one key role model from his home state who has already achieved the goal that he will come the fall.
“I’ve always looked up to Ben because you definitely don’t see a lot of guys coming out of Vermont,” Haskins said. “It’s very special (to represent the state at an elite level). It gives some hope to Vermonters that if you want to play D1 hockey, you can make it work. If you work hard, anything can happen.”
