The Beginning: Before Pro Hockey (Part I)

Written by Bryce Aldrich, edited and published by Michael Keeley

A 1998 Delaware Valley Hockey League score sheet, pitting a very young Terrence Wallin against a very young Ryan Ferrill

The following is part one of a two part series featuring conversations with Mariners players about the beginnings of their hockey career

Every hockey player has a unique story, but they all have one thing in common. It all began somewhere, whether that be in their hometown or a ways away. The sport of hockey takes some people on a journey.

For the Maine Mariners, some players found themselves on ice skates at the age of two, while others didn’t get onto the ice until they were ten. The sport allowed some of the Mariners to play all over North America and not just in their own countries during their time in youth hockey. Their parents made sacrifices that allowed their children to follow their passion, their dreams, and their goals.

Mariners’ Media Assistant, Bryce Aldrich caught up with some of the players to talk about their path to where they are today and where that all began.

How old were you when you started skating/playing hockey and where did you play?

“I was three years old when I first strapped on the skates, and around age five is when I started getting into organized hockey. I grew up in Merrimac, Massachusetts playing for Pentucket Youth Hockey until I was about seven years old. Then I played for Top Gun out of Salem, New Hampshire when I was eight years old until I was a freshman in high school. That’s when I went and played for the Los Angeles Selects. That was a crazy year. I was a freshman in high school and almost every weekend I was traveling, whether it was California, Chicago, or Detroit for a tournament. I racked up the frequent flyer miles a lot.”
-Defenseman Josh Couturier

“I started skating when I was around the age of two and a half. I was on my first team at four years old. I played my minor hockey in my hometown of La Tuque, Quebec. When I got a little older, I played an hour and 40 minutes away. My mom and dad drove me to every practice in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.”
-Forward Morgan Adams-Moisan

“I started playing roller hockey when I was four and started playing on teams when I was five or six. I transitioned into playing ice hockey when I was nine or ten. My first year on a team on ice was in squirts. I started playing roller at a rink in San Clemente, California where I grew up. I played for a club called to AKS Empire. When I transitioned to ice, my first team was the Yorba Linda (CA) Blackhawks. I did one season there and the rest of my youth hockey from peewees to midget minor was with the Los Angeles Selects. We traveled a lot from second year peewee level and on. We flew everywhere for all of the big tournaments.”
-Defenseman Scott Savage, Alternate Captain

“I was about three years old when I started skating. I started playing on teams around five or six. I was born in Reno, Nevada, but I grew up in Las Vegas. I played for the Las Vegas Outlaws. When I was 13 my family and I moved to California and I played for the Los Angeles Selects. For my second year of midget level hockey, I lived with a billet family in Michigan and played for Victory Honda. The best teams are from Michigan, Chicago, and those kinds of places so we had to travel every couple weeks to different spots and play in different tournaments. We played in the Southwest League and we even played against teams in Phoenix and teams around there.”
-Forward Michael McNicholas

“I started skating at three years old in my backyard with my older brothers. I played on my first team when I was four. I played where I grew up, in High River, Alberta. I then went to play for the Foothills Bisons. I played bantam level in Okotoks, Alberta. When you get older you just end up all over. It was 30 minutes to practice two times a week, then midget level was an hour.”
-Forward Conner Bleackley

“I first got on skates at four years old and I was on a team right away. I started playing in Hershey, Pennsylvania, actually right next to the Hershey Bears arena. They had an outdoor rink that they would set up. Then growing up I played mostly for the Hershey Jr. Bears and for the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers. Most of my games were throughout Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia area. I played a little bit in New Jersey too. As I started getting older it was a little bit more, some games in Delaware.” 

-Forward Dillan Fox

“I started skating for the first time when I was three years old in Singapore and I started playing on a team in Michigan when I was four. We moved back there from Singapore when I was four and I played on a team called the Troy Blades. I played for Little Caesars, Detroit Honeybaked, and Detroit Compuware. All three of those are the top three youth teams in Michigan and the Mid-West region. The Compuware team that I was on only lost two games all season.”
-Defenseman Sean Day

What experiences did you have playing amateur hockey?

“When I got older, I played in Canada a bunch. I played in the Quebec International Peewee Tournament with the Hershey Jr. Bears. I know a lot of the Mariners have all played in it. I also played in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and I went out to Calgary for a tournament before.”
-Dillan Fox

“I played U-17 for Team Canada in Quebec. I played U-18 for Team Canada in Finland. I played in the Mac’s Midget Hockey Tournament in Calgary which is pretty big.”
-Conner Bleackley

“I played in the Quebec International Peewee Tournament, which was a blast. You live with a French billet family for the tournament. We placed second when we lost to the Detroit Honeybaked in the final. We then played them in the national championship that year and beat them.”
-Scott Savage

Which of your current teammates did you cross paths with in your career growing up?

  

“Terrence Wallin grew up in the Philadelphia area and we have a lot of mutual friends. I’m sure we played against each other here and there but not enough to remember each other. We played in some of the same organizations and we know the same guys.”
-Dillan Fox

Scott Savage as a member of the
L.A. Selects, circa 2011.
Photo credit: ocregister.com

“I played with Josh Couturier. He would fly to come meet us. I have known Josh for so long. I also played in the same club as Mike [McNicholas]. He played for the 1994 (birthyear) Los Angeles Selects team, so we would be at the same rinks and we did a couple inter-squad games against each other. I also played [Nick] Master in roller hockey growing up.”
-Scott Savage

(Savage and Couturier would again cross paths as teammates with Boston College in 2015-16)

“Scott Savage played for the Los Angeles Selects. He was a year younger than me, but we always played scrimmages against them. We were always at the rink together growing up. I did play against Alex Kile when he was on HoneyBaked and I was on the LA Selects.”
-Michael McNicholas

The players that competed in the Canadian Hockey League’s branches of leagues often battled against one another. Conner Bleackley not only played against Greg Chase in the Western Hockey League but was also his teammate on the WHL All-Star team twice. While in the Ontario Hockey League, Sean Day played against Brandon Crawley. The players from Quebec are familiar with one another from their time in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Mikael Robidoux and Morgan Adams-Moisan frequently played each other while also playing against Marc-Olivier Crevier-Morin and Francois Brassard over those years. 

The QMJHL and WHL each compile "Super Series/Canada-Russia Series" All-Star teams each year. Brassard and Ryan Culkin were named to the 2012-13 QMJHL team, while Bleackey played with Greg Chase, and Ryan Gropp on the WHL side between 2013-16.

Sean Day and recently acquired Mariners defenseman Austin McEneny won a Memorial Cup together in 2016-17 with the Windsor Spitfires (Ontario Hockey League).

Day (left) and McEneny (right), once teammates with the Windsor Spitfires,
are now together again in Maine. Photo credit: zimbio.com

What was or still is your long term goal in hockey?

“My ultimate goal was just to get better, have a good game, and have fun. I didn’t really know that I could do anything with hockey until after I player on the L.A. Selects with Scotty [Savage].”
-Josh Couturier

“I always wanted to play division one in college. That was a goal growing up, especially when I got to California where things got more serious"
-Michael McNicholas.

"My goal was to play at the highest level that I could and to work hard to obtain my ultimate goal, which still is, to make the NHL.”

-Morgan Adams-Moisan

“I was like any other kid, my dream was to play in the NHL. It started as a dream, and then it became a goal, which it still is. I just had a lot fun. I kept moving up and was always one of the better players”
-Conner Bleackley.

“My goal as a kid was to play in the NHL. During my time in the QMJHL, it was to play professionally after juniors.”

-Forward Mikael Robidoux

“I just wanted to play in college somewhere. As you get older, you kind of see that being a reality so I was lucky that it did because when I was younger, I didn’t really know the best way to get there.”

-Dillan Fox

“To be the best player that I can be and continue to develop and honestly have fun. I love hockey and that’s why I was so dedicated to it and obviously the end goal is to play in the NHL someday. I knew I wanted to try and do that, and it took all means necessary to get myself to that point.”
-Scott Savage

Part two of this series will feature players discussing specific opportunities and achievements from their hockey beginnings, their favorite players growing up, family support systems, the process of becoming professionals, and advice for the next generation.