It is not common for a 21-year old to put his name in the sports history books. However, Reid Duke did just this on March 6th, 2017. Duke did not break any scoring records or even play a single game in the NHL. Instead, he was the first player ever signed by the Vegas Golden Knights hockey organization. This June, the rest of Reid Duke’s future teammates will be selected in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. This draft will bring together the first thirty-man roster for the Golden Knights, the NHL’s 31st team. The Golden Knights franchise will carry heavy expectations as the first major professional sports team in the city of Las Vegas. For better or worse, the Vegas Golden Knights will change the city of Las Vegas and prove that it can be a hockey city.
The National Hockey League was founded 100 years ago, and started with six teams in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York, and Toronto. The first expansion and subsequent expansion draft occurred in 1967 when the league doubled its teams from six to twelve. Since this first expansion, the NHL has held ten other expansion drafts and grown to 30 teams. In expansion drafts, existing NHL teams can protect a specific number of players on their rosters. These protected players are not available to be drafted while all other active players on their roster can be drafted by the expansion teams. In previous NHL expansion drafts, existing teams could protect many of the players on their rosters. This created a very low ceiling for the talent available to the expansion teams.
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Jack Jenkins is in his sophomore campaign for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s hockey team. He grew up playing in the Chicago Young Americans hockey organization. He was then drafted by the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He then spent three seasons in the USHL developing his skills as a forward.
Sean Kageff: How did you get started in hockey and did you ever think you would play college hockey? Jack Jenkins: My dad introduced me to hockey when I was three years old. And yes, it was always a dream of mine to play college hockey. When the 2017 NHL playoffs begin, there will be a familiar team missing. The Detroit Red Wings’ 25-year playoff streak will likely come to an end as the team sits with just a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs. The Red Wings have succeeded over the past-quarter century by developing the organization’s young talent in the minor leagues and bringing in NHL superstars from Free Agency. The foundation for the last 25 years of success started with drafting Steve Yzerman in 1983 and building the team around him. To return to their former glory, the Red Wings need a new star draft pick to lay a new foundation for the next 25 years: a new Steve Yzerman.
Michael Babcock III is a collegiate hockey player at Merrimack College. Michael is the son of Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Michael Babcock. He played three years of prep hockey at Detroit Catholic Central. Following this, he spent two years in the United States Hockey League for the Fargo Force where he was named captain in his second season. He has just completed his sophomore season with the Merrimack College men’s hockey program. Our conversation discusses his upbringing in hockey along with his experience in prep and junior levels of hockey.
Sean Kageff: First off, how did you get started in hockey and what led you along the way to where you are now at Merrimack? Michael Babcock III: I got involved in hockey when my dad coached. That obviously helped, I was around the rink quite a bit growing up, you just go to work with your dad. It was definitely a kid friendly environment when I was growing up. I was always allowed to be there. Being around the guys and stuff like that. So, I definitely learned to love the game through just going to the rink with my dad. And then growing up, obviously, my passion for it grew more and more each year it seemed. As you play and get older, some kids continue to love it, some kids don’t. I was very fortunate that my passion just always increased it felt with each time I touched the ice. I was fortunate enough to move into good areas where hockey was a big hub. Like Detroit, it is a great spot for youth development in hockey. I was fortunate enough to play in AAA and then play high school at CC [Detroit Catholic Central], and again fortune enough to play juniors and now college. It’s been a really good ride for me. In basketball, there is a direct road to the National Basketball Association. Athletes must excel in high school, commit to and play for a university, and get drafted into the NBA. However, in the sport of hockey, the path to the National Hockey League is much more complicated. In addition to collegiate hockey, there are a myriad of developmental leagues that the NHL pools from. Despite this complicated process, at the center of hockey is the ideal model in preparing its youth. This all comes down to the NHL’s draft format: players can be drafted, but continue to play as an amateur before turning pro. This style of draft is something that the NBA should implement.
For those unfamiliar with the sport, attempting to make sense of all the various levels and leagues of hockey is comparable to reading a different language. At the amateur level, there are junior, major junior, and collegiate leagues. Junior leagues are the precursor to both collegiate and major junior hockey. NCAA Division I hockey consists of 60 teams in different conferences while major junior hockey consists of the three leagues in the Canadian Hockey League. Players choose either the NCAA or major junior route before the age where they can legally drive a car. They then play two years at the junior level before moving to the NCAA or major juniors. From ages 18-20, players can be drafted from these leagues in the NHL, but can continue to play as amateurs. By the time players move from amateur to professional leagues, they have played two years of developmental hockey at a minimum. |
Sean KageffSenior at the University of Michigan studying Actuarial Math CategoriesArchives |