NAHL: A League of Their Own

This season marks the 100th anniversary of the National Hockey League which makes it a mere thirty four years younger than the NAHL. This month the New England Hockey News ran a feature story about the greatest league in hockey history. The No A-- Hole League has been the standard from which all other league's are measured. It has been called "the League of Opportunity" because it's given elite players the opportunity to play out their dreams on the biggest stage. It has been the pinnacle of achievement for players in the NCAA and the NHL to aim for. New Jersey Devil defenseman Ben Lovejoy described his experience in the NAHL this way;"My time in the NAHL was the highlight of my career. Winning the Stanely Cup in Pittsburgh was good too, but playing alongside the elite players of the NAHL was the thrill of a lifetime. There are games now, especially on Thursday nights, that I'm sitting on the Devil's bench thinking: "I wish this was the NAHL". He went on to say, "I know the chance of getting called back up to the NAHL is slim, but if I play hard every shift and don't make any mistakes, there is always the hope of getting the call up. Anything is possible". Lovejoy speaks for all hockey players who want to reach for the stars. In 2016 alone, five NHL first round draft picks signed with NAHL teams. There is 700 former NCAA players playing in the NAHL, with another 259 NCAA players committing to play in the NAHL once their college elegiblity is over. The NAHL wants players to graduate before they play in the league. That is also why many refer to the NAHL as the "smartest league in the world". The league is often referred to as "the league of opportunity" for a reason: The players are opportunistic. If a player coughs up the puck, it will inevitably end up in the back of the net. If a goalie gives up a rebound (which rarely happens), it's a goal. The article goes on and on singing the praises of the NAHL. Playing in the NAHL opens a lot of doors for people. The league also raises awareness for some important issues; such as the alarming rise of obesity right here in the United States of America. They encourage children to stay in school. They sponsor the program called, "Learn to Read the Pucking Files. The league also encourages ethnic diversity. There are players of many colors such as Blue, Green, Chartreuse and Chrome. It truly is "The League of Opportunity".

Skate House Approved

A show of hands at the city planning board meeting was all it took to approve the new skate house for White"s Park. Dave Gill made the presentation to a packed house of more than a dozen citizens (one of which was just passing through town and stopped to ask for directions to get back on I-93). Gill first showed the group the original design (pictured top right). The plan proposed a 35,000 square foot facility which would have a grand central hall that could seat up 2,500 people with central air and seven gas fire places. The central hall would be surrounded by ice skating amenities such as a skate rental shop (with a Mr. Curtis impersonator), a hot chocolate/expresso bar, a fitness room, eight locker rooms,a hockey equipment store with 5 skate sharpening machines(with a Donnie Burke impersonator), a Zamboni parts store, a yoga center, a Japanese-style massage parlor and transgender bathrooms. The second level would have luxury boxes for watching the Black Ice Pond Hockey Tournament in the winter and The Bass Masters Carp Fishing Derby in the summer. There will also be a shopping mall which will include luxury boutiques, fine restaurants and a Super Cimmo's Market. Other amenities will feature an indoor waterfall, escalators, The Black Ice Hockey Hall of Fame, an Imax surround theatre and a helicopter landing pad on the roof. The city estimates this will cost the city roughly $4,500,000. with the other half of the cost provided by Black Ice Pond Hockey donations. Many residents were opposed to the plan as being overly ambitious and not being in line with Concord's historical tradition. Mary "No" Deal said that she thought "the city was making a deal with the devil by accepting donations from Black Ice". She claimed that she "has inside information" that "the city would allow the Black Ice Pond Hockey Association to have tournaments every weekend from Halloween through Easter using an underwater refrigeration system that was to be installed in the bottom of the pond." Black Ice board member Dan "Lucky" Luker responded by saying, "I know that I'm only working one weekend of the year no matter how much Black Ice Ale they offer me". Another resident stated his concern was that the skate house may lead to a decline in the red winged black bird population by infringing on their habitat. He said, "I would like to see just a nice simple bird house put up where the old skate house used to be". Still others cited the need for a nature preserve that would eliminate buildings all together so buffalo could once again roam the park like they did before Mr. and Mrs. White gave up drinking. In any case; a second plan was presented that was more modest in scale. It quickly met the approval of almost all those present who had no interest in ice hockey. This plan proposed the scaled down facility to be placed on the site of the current skate house facility overlooking the pond from the southwestern shore. The second plan was approved and the meeting was quickly adjourned before Dan Arndt knew what hit him. For the hockey community, it was a bitter pill to swallow.