Anaheim Ducks: The Importance of Hockey Development in SoCal

Today, I’m going to be going a little off subject from what we usually cover here at Pucks Of A Feather and talk about the growth of hockey in SoCal. The Anaheim Ducks have been on the front lines of growing the sport in their nontraditional market.

To start, I think much of the growth in California gets attributed to the famous day Wayne Gretzky was traded. And rightfully so. Being the player that he was, meant wherever he wound up, he would be a big deal. Even though he played for a rival, I think that all of California can consider The Great One’s time one of the best things to happen to the state. Without Gretzky, there would be no Anaheim Ducks.

Planting the Seeds

Southern California isn’t thought of as one of the big, profitable hockey markets when it comes to the NHL. It’s always kind of bugged me because as a state, we’ve all had some relatively memorable times. Unfortunately, the NHL doesn’t see the “Southern California Market” as important as more established ones like Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Detroit. It boils down to the fact that SoCal is never going to be a ‘traditional’ market like those teams.

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Frankly, I see it as a blessing in disguise. As a team in a market that always going to be towards the bottom of the totem pole in terms of attention, it forces a team like the Anaheim Ducks to stand out and prove their worth. Additionally, it also makes teams at the professional level, to build their own roots at the community level.

Orange County has been fortunate enough to turn the corner. In doing so they turned the Junior and Lady Ducks into prestigious youth programs. Former Jr. Duck, Cam York became the first player to go through the program and be selected to play in the NHL Draft Showcase game. York, along with six others who have been past players are all committed to D1 schools.

We also can’t forget how the Lady Ducks program sent six teams to the USA National Championships. SIX. That’s almost half the teams that are part of the program! It goes to show that these programs are producing quality players at all levels.

Plenty of Room

To finish this off I wanted to talk about my personal experiences as someone who actively plays. Growing up, I was a baseball player. There were glimpses of hockey here and there when the parents were able to get tickets but it wasn’t until three years ago that I got back into this great sport.

It was so easy to jump right in and the hockey culture here is great. It’s not hard to find places to play, because there is a variety of rinks and people to play with. At first, the availability really surprised me. I never knew how big it really was here.

The amount of ice time someone can get with something as low-key and laid back as pick up games is incredible. Finding leagues for organized play is a breeze because of the sheer amount of them both on the ice and inline. Ice time is so readily available almost year round and its beyond great.

All in all, Calfornia has come a long way when it comes to hockey. From natives like Emerson Etem, Nic Kerdiles, and Long Becah native, Matt Nieto all making it to the big leagues to the rapid growth of the youth programs, California’s starting to really make a case that it’s a hockey state through and through.