Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Event Alums Dot Frozen Rosters
More than a dozen players who attended College Hockey Inc. events as youth are in the 2016 Frozen Four.
By Nate Ewell
Elite hockey players spend countless hours in rinks and attend dozens of “showcase” events each year, so you could forgive them forgetting a specific event five years later. But Connor Clifton recalls attending a College Hockey Inc. Summit at the Flyers Skate Zone in Vorhees, N.J., in May 2011.
“I got in a fight, I remember that,” said the Quinnipiac junior defenseman with a laugh. “I’m a competitive guy. I tend to piss people off sometimes and that happens.”
Clifton is one of more than a dozen Frozen Four participants who attended College Hockey Inc. Summits at the ages of 14, 15 or 16. They include players from each team and who went to events in eight different locations across North America.
Hobey Baker Award finalist Thatcher Demko didn’t know much about NCAA hockey growing up in San Diego, Calif. His eyes were opened at a 2010 College Hockey Inc. event.
“I didn’t know what [college hockey] was, I didn’t know the ins and outs,” Demko told Westwood One radio on Tuesday. “I went to a College Hockey Inc. skate in Valencia, California, when I was 14 and that was my first exposure to it. BC became my favorite school just because they were so good.”
Future California events included Demko’s teammate, Scott Savage, and Denver’s Trevor Moore. Events College Hockey Inc. held in Ann Arbor, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Rochester (N.Y.) and Toronto were attended by players like Nick Schmaltz, Alex Tuch, Miles Wood and Thomas Aldworth.
Now that College Hockey Inc. is in its seventh year of operation, more and more players who have attended events are matriculating at Division I schools.
College Hockey Inc. Summits are designed to introduce players – like Demko – to NCAA hockey, and to further educate them on the recruiting process. NCAA coaches in attendance get the chance to watch players on the ice and some
“I remember a bunch of people were in the stands,” Clifton said. “It was good exposure and a pretty competitive game, a good time.”
Especially competitive for the hard-hitting defensive defenseman for the Bobcats.