SEATTLE-Now that Seattle has a new hockey team, hockey is trying to gain traction in the PNW, with the Kraken beating the reigning champs in the playoffs last year but eventually getting knocked out in the next round.
Hockey has almost always been dominated in the US by states like Minnesota and Wisconsin, but the US was always in the shadow of Canada and Russia in the big stage. But the tables are starting to turn, as the US won gold in the youth world championships earlier this year.
The Irish have our own hockey transfer with sophomore Noah Louie who plays for Sno King 18u AA. AA is the middle tier in the youth circuit, it's like playing in the Adidas circuit for basketball instead of the Nike circuit.
In an interview with Louie he talks about what a normal tournament would look like for him. “Flying out Wednesday, night or mid-day getting to the hotels and night little video review and go over plays and then in bed by 1030. Up at 10 and then team breakfast and on busses to rink we normal get there 1hr and 3o min before the puck drop, and we kind of repeat that the whole weekend but normally we always have film/video right before curfew”
Youth Hockey is much different in the states than most youth sports in the fact that it operates much more like a pro team rather than a youth team all getting their own rides to the games and getting at the field at much different times.
Playing AA is taking a step in the right direction to represent your country one day and maybe play professionally and even get drafted.
Louie talks later about how playing Hockey in the US is much different than any other thing he's experienced. “Hockey is different in the way as there only so many spots on the few teams in the state because it's not as big of a sport but one of the good differences is how known you can become, and the name u can make in the hockey world.” Playing with a much lower number pool of players in a circuit, you can get to know other kids on other teams because those are the kids you are always going to play against and that's another perk of playing with such a low number of players and teams.
The Irish have sports talent from rugby to hockey to football and Louie is just another example of the product the Irish bring in.
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