The state of California turned into the center of the hockey universe at the end of June, and not solely because the National Hockey League held its’ annual player draft in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. A secondary story coming out of the draft was the emergence of players drafted who were California natives, and developed their skills in that state’s arenas. It’s not as if young kids in California can strap on their skates and hop onto a frozen river or pond and eat, sleep and breathe hockey like the kids in Canada do. But that’s what made this story interesting. The players drafted from California, four in total including two in the first round, honed their skills as youngsters by playing inline hockey on pavement rinks prior to graduating to junior hockey on regular ice rinks. The inline hockey experience enabled these youngsters to develop keen passing skills and a top flight speed game, as the inline game is usually played at a faster pace than the pickup games on snow-covered ponds in the frozen north. The four players drafted this year were Beau Bennett, picked 20th by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Emerson Etem, drafted in the 29th slot by Anaheim – both chosen in the first round – Jason Zucker, picked by Minnesota, and Taylor Aranson, tabbed by the Nashville Predators. Zucker was born in California but moved to Las Vegas at a young age and developed his skills there. It will be interesting to follow the careers of these players to see how successful they are in the NHL. If the California player pipeline continues to grow, you might see NHL scouts in the future taking surfing lessons and desert survival training in order to hunt down more talent.
California Hockey Takes Center Stage
05
Jul