Western Pennsylvania is a burgeoning base for hockey talent and perhaps no institution has benefitted more than Robert Morris University. With an influx of homegrown players, the Colonials are on pace to post their second-ever winning season.
.png) For as long as almost anyone can remember, youth, junior and college hockey in the United States has belonged to the three M’s – Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts. But the NHL’s continued geographic spread and growth in popularity through the last two decades has seen that hierarchy challenged.
Nowhere is that more prevalent than in hockey’s new hotbed of talent, western Pennsylvania. Just ask Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley.
“There are 28 players in Division I hockey from Pittsburgh. We have seven,” the Colonials coach pointed out after his team, a rising power in Atlantic Hockey, fell to Ohio State, 4-2, in the annual College Hockey Showcase at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center. “Pittsburgh hockey took a big step with (Mario) Lemieux and then (Jaromir) Jagr. Now with (Sidney) Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin, there’s a whole new era of hockey players coming up.”
Those Stanley Cup Penguins teams from 20 years ago began turning neighborhood touch football games into driveway games of street hockey. The area went from having only four rinks for youth hockey to now more than 20. Easy access to ice time quickly turned into 5 a.m. or 11 p.m. practices for a bevy of teams giving into the craze-turned-lifestyle.
Four Pittsburgh-area players – Notre Dame’s Stephen Johns and the OHL’s Brandon Saad, J.T. Miller and John Gibson – recently suited up for the U.S. team at World Juniors. Other Steel City denizens thriving in Division I include Boston College defenseman and Washington Capitals prospect Patrick Wey, BC goalie Parker Milner, Minnesota-Duluth goalie Kenny Reiter and Notre Dame center Patrick Gaul.
All are looking to follow western Pennsylvania natives such as R.J. Umberger, Ryan Malone, George Parros, Nate Guenin and Matt Bartkowski to the NHL.
“Pittsburgh hockey is growing and getting better. Our goal is to keep the best players at home,” said Schooley.
He’ll have competition. Robert Morris is already being challenged in Atlantic Hockey by Mercyhurst, just two hours up the road in Erie, and Penn State is already scouring the area for its own talent to begin NCAA play in 2013.
And while Schooley hasn’t landed the best of his region’s talent – Miller was originally committed to North Dakota and Gibson to Michigan before they high-tailed it for Canadian juniors – local players such as defenseman Brendan Jamison and forwards Colin South and Furman South have provided Schooley a foundation to build upon.
Robert Morris’ hockey program is in its eighth year of existence. The Colonials finished 8-21-4 in 2004-05, its inaugural season as part of the now-defunct CHA conference. Last season, RMU posted its first winning record at 18-12-5, led by senior defenseman Denny Urban, another locally groomed player.
This year, the Colonials are again above .500 at 9-8-3, and challenging Mercyhurst, Air Force and RIT for Atlantic Hockey supremacy – a scenario that likely wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the seeding of new talent in his new backyard two decades ago.
Notes
It was a week of bad news for St. Cloud State. Sophomore forward and Nashville Predators prospect Cam Reid has left the team to play with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. Reid was fifth on the team in scoring with 15 points in 22 games. Classmate Mitch MacMillan, unhappy with his ice time in St. Cloud, transferred to North Dakota before the spring semester started. … North Dakota sophomore and New Jersey Devils prospect Derek Rodwell is done for the year after suffering a shoulder injury in the Dec. 30 game against Harvard. Rodwell had just a goal and an assist in 19 games for the Sioux. … The Sioux lost another future player this week when U.S. U-18 star Stefan Matteau decomitted to announce he was instead joining Blainville-Boinbriand of the QMJHL next season. … Alaska-Anchorage junior forward Mickey Spencer, who was leading the Seawolves in goals, has left the team. A reason for the departure and Spencer’s immediate plans were not known. … Fan voting for the Hobey Baker Award has begun at www.hobeybakeraward.com. Fan vote is just one factor in the preliminary stage of voting. As of early Friday afternoon, Colgate senior and NCAA-leading goal scorer Austin Smith was leading the voting, with Minnesota-Duluth senior forward Jack Connolly second.
Quote of the Week
"To be able to have Jaden as captain of Team Canada says an awful lot about not only the respect he has in Canada, but the level of respect for where he's playing. You almost have to force your way onto that team if you're playing U.S. college hockey. You're almost looked upon as a traitor. It's like, 'You are a traitor, but if you're a really, really, really good traitor, we'll waive that.' " –
Denver coach and native-born Canadian George Gwozdecky, to the Denver Post, on the return of Colorado College star Jaden Schwartz to Division I after captaining Canada to a bronze medal at the World Juniors.
Photo of Derek Schooley courtesy of Robert Morris University
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