Most youth hockey players growing up in New England dream of playing college hockey in Hockey East.
There’s no shortage of information out there on just how difficult it is to accomplish this feat. Unfortunately, it’s more difficult than ever to play in Hockey East, especially if you’re a young, aspiring hockey player from New England.
With the 2019-20 college hockey season just a few weeks old, I looked at the number of players from New England on Hockey East rosters and where they came from.
Some of the numbers I found will shock a lot of people as there is a lot of misinformation out there and plenty of misconceptions on what players need to do in order to get to Hockey East.
Eighty New England natives are on Hockey East rosters to start the 2019-20 season. Contrast that to the 1999-2000 season when there were 129 players in Hockey East from the six New England states.
While some of the 80 played more than one of high school, prep school, and midget, it’s interesting to look at where they came from. Fifty-four played prep school hockey. Twenty-five of the 80 played MIAA, and 14 played full-season midget.
There is an abundance of full-season midget teams in the region, but it will be difficult to make the case that those teams have created a path for players to Hockey East. However, there’s one organization that has done a better job than any other in terms of being a full-season midget outlet that moves its player onto Hockey East.
Seven of the 14 full-season midget alums in Hockey East played for Tim Lovell’s Boston Advantage. Only one other full-season midget organization has more than one player in Hockey East this season, and that is the Boston Junior Bruins.
New England’s NHL picks in Hockey East
Twenty of those 80 players from New England on Hockey East rosters this season are NHL draft picks. While many of those NHL draft picks left New England for the USHL or USA Hockey NTDP, it’s interesting to look at the development paths of those players.
Fifteen of those 20 draft picks played prep hockey and some of them were selected right out of prep. Four played high school hockey in Massachusetts before being drafted. Three of the four had moved onto the USHL or NTDP, but one, Northeastern defenseman Ryan Shea (Milton, Mass.), was drafted out of BC High. One player, Merrimack defenseman Patrick Holway (Cohasset, Mass.), was selected out of midget hockey with the Boston Advantage 18-U.
What’s going on in New England youth hockey?
The most troubling find from this research is that there are 49 less players from New England in Hockey East this season than 20 years ago. While hockey has grown in non-traditional markets, it is concerning that less players are developing into Hockey East players.
It’s always a hot-button issue, but something needs to be done. Some people will point to the success at the 2019 NHL Draft, but the general trend is disheartening.
The bottom line is that players can get to Hockey East from many different paths. However, the continued notion that players can’t play high school hockey on the way to Hockey East is not true.
Playing high school hockey, like is the conventional path in Minnesota, is a cheaper option and is seemingly doing a better job of developing talent for college hockey.
I plead with parents, families, and young players to have an open mind. Don’t just blindly believe the propaganda you hear from all sides. There are advantages and disadvantages to all paths. Every player is different, but the notion that players must do a certain thing to get noticed, recruited or advanced is false.
