This is a week old now, but it certainly doesn’t reflect well on the NHLPA. It just makes you want to sigh at the ignorance about this market that still persists in the hockey world -- among insiders in the hockey world.
In the same month that a North Carolina player claimed a first-line spot on the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, playing alongside first-round draft pick Alex Galchenyuk; the same month that the first North Carolina player joined USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program; the same month that a North Carolina goalie was named to NHL Central Scouting’s preseason watch list for the 2013 NHL Draft; NHLPA executive Mathieu Schneider, a former NHL defenseman, called the state of youth hockey in North Carolina “anemic.”
“I look at Florida, I played in Atlanta, I played in Phoenix, Carolina, the minor hockey is anemic there,” Schneider said. “I think there’s huge potential for those markets. You have rabid fans that come to the game on any given night when a team’s having a successful playoff run -- like you saw in Florida, like you’ve seen in Carolina where they’ve won a cup. I think there’s huge potential for the game to grow in those areas.”
Schneider, a special assistant to the NHLPA executive director, was speaking on the Sept. 17 edition of the Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast. (The comments are about two-thirds of the way through.)
And just when you thought the days of the Hurricanes being lumped in with Florida, Phoenix and Atlanta were over.
“Anemic” compared to what? Toronto? The growth in hockey in this market, even since 2006, is staggering. Fifteen years after the NHL arrived in the state, North Carolina is producing NHL draft prospects. It’s producing Division I college players (male and female). It’s producing top USA Hockey prospects.
It’s doing all the things Schneider, in the same interview, praised markets like Dallas and Southern California for doing -- markets that had a five-year (or more) head start on North Carolina.
This is just the vanguard. Check back in five years. If Schneider and the NHLPA were paying attention, you'd think they’d know that.
If this is how out of touch the NHLPA is with the markets it’s allegedly trying to support, no wonder the NHL season’s shut down for the second time in eight years.
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at (919) 829-8947, @LukeDeCock on Twitter or
Comments
Senior moment...
Mon, 09/24/2012 - 19:02 — ocolumnI heard these remarks last week, when he made them, on XM's hockey channel. At the time, I thought that he threw in Carolina as an afterthought, that he was just trying to think of more examples and that mention of the Triangle market just fell out of his mouth. Schneider had a senior moment. That's how I heard it.
Schneider had a great
Mon, 09/24/2012 - 16:31 — oldpoliticalsSchneider had a great career, but he played with 10 different teams over a 20 year period but never lived in North Carolina and therefore never has seen first hand anything about the growth of hockey in this state.
There is nothing "anemic" (tired, fatigue easily, appear pale, develop palpitations, and/or becomes sometimes short of breath) about the development of hockey in this state. Maybe he needs to apply the above partial definition to his own organization, the NHLPA.
Just Wait Canada...
Mon, 09/24/2012 - 16:12 — WAStoutLike Luke says....just a little longer...
My son has been skating since 3 and playing hockey since 4....his teams regularly go north and crush competition...
Do we have the volume of kids? No. But I bet my kid gets hours more ice time due to lack of that volume....
It won't be long now before we catch up....with the USA Hockey Model now becoming a requirement for hockey programs....you will see unified approach.
...And for those that balk at the USA ADM Model? Bring your team to Greensboro and watch us skate around you like a pylon. ;)
Just a little longer....
Not far off...
Mon, 09/24/2012 - 15:56 — CanarseSchneider isn't far off. Producing a few kids doesn't mean the hockey is good, it means you have a few very talented individuals. The Southern California area has teams among the best in the country regularly. The Dallas Stars have made a big investment in minor hockey including buying rinks and directly running their own programs. They also regularly have very good teams. For Florida, Atlanta, Pheonix or Carolina to have a team of that calibre is a rarity.
There are some very good hockey coaches in this area, but the organizations are fragmented and spend too much energy fighting each other to really get any serious momentum. Thanks for having the area's back, Luke, but while youth hockey contiues to grow in Carolina it needs a fair bit of help.
Good luck
Mon, 09/24/2012 - 14:31 — mattpavoneThis is typical of the views in hockey-popular markets. I live in the Toronto area and most people assume the 'Canes are a dying franchise and a drain on the league. The all-star game was a bit of a revelation, but too soon forgotten. Sad to say but Schneider isn't alone in his thoughts.