The Growth of Hockey

Here in Michigan, the sport of hockey has been one of the main sports kids love to participate in forever. That hasn’t always been the case as in many of the other states, Hockey had taken a backseat to other sports such as Football or Basketball. When you would read the rosters of the different National Development teams, and players drafted, it was typically dominated domestically by a handful of states. Now you are starting to see more and more “homecoming” games in the NHL. California kids playing on the big stage at the Staples Center, Honda Center or in the “Shark Tank” SAP Center. Recently we saw Chase Priskie make his NHL debut for the club that lent their name to his youth team, the Florida Panthers. What a dream come true to play for the youth organization, to make it to the pinnacle and play for the hometown team right down the road from where it all began.

Expansion is not just exclusive to the NHL, but like the top level, the markets in which expansion is happening is quite similar. The southwest has seen additions like the Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona State University adding hockey. The Islanders may have moved back out of Brooklyn, but Long Island University has filled that vacancy. St. Thomas has moved up to NCAA Division 1 to create a Twin Cities rivalry with Minneapolis based University of Minnesota. Lindenwood University will be making the ultimate jump from ACHA Division 1 to NCAA Division 1, following their Women’s team who made the jump a few years prior, adding upper echelon college puck into St. Louis Blues Country, in fact, they will share a rink.

As the sport grows, both on the boys’ and girls’ sides, opportunities for those who achieve incredible heights in their abilities will have places to play, and it may be closer to home than they ever imagined. It is a testament to the many youth programs in non-standard hockey markets in developing kids and helping them achieve their dreams. There is one thing that many of these players and clubs have in common, is they always make their way up north to compete in Michigan youth hockey tournaments, as they always provide a benchmark of how they stack up with the longstanding established clubs we have here in-state.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, we here at Elite Amateur Sports hope to see you very soon!