NHL Warms to Jersey Talent

Carney's Point native Johnny Gaudreau is tearing up the ice as left wing for the Calgary Flames.

Johnny Gaudreau on the ice for the Calgary Flames.
Stick Man: Johnny Gaudreau on the ice for the Calgary Flames.
Photo Courtesy Calgary Flames Hockey Club

The Garden State is rarely acknowledged as an ice hockey hotbed, but Johnny Gaudreau is doing his best to change that. Gaudreau, one of five Jersey natives currently in the National Hockey League, is forging a reputation as an elite player in his first full season with the Calgary Flames.

Despite his diminutive stature in a sport that relishes size and strength, the 5-9, 150-pound Carney’s Point native has thrived at every level of hockey in which he has competed.

“I’ve always had to overcome the fact I wasn’t big,” says the 21-year-old Gaudreau, who as a youth skated countless hours at Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell, where his father, Guy, is the rink director. “I got cut from some teams when I was younger, but that always made me want to prove them wrong.”

Gaudreau had a distinguished high-school career at Gloucester Catholic, collecting 108 points on 51 goals and 57 assists in his final two seasons. But it was a spectacular three-year stint at hockey powerhouse Boston College—where he earned the nickname “Johnny Hockey”—and a gold medal performance in the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Europe that marked Gaudreau as a future star. As a Boston College senior, he led all U.S. college players in goals, assists and points, and became the first New Jersey native to earn the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s finest player.

Gaudreau broke into the NHL at left wing for the Flames last season, scoring a goal on his first shot. He debuted alongside another Jersey guy, Morristown-born, Flanders-raised Kenny Agostino, a two-time New Jersey High School Player of the Year at the Delbarton School in Morristown. (Agostino started this season with Calgary’s minor league squad).

Jersey’s biggest name in today’s NHL is Middletown’s James van Riemsdyk. The former Olympian now stars for the Toronto Maple Leafs after starting his career as a Philadelphia Flyer. Van Riemsdyk’s kid brother, Trevor, is in his rookie season with the Chicago Blackhawks. Also skating in the NHL this season: Colonia’s John Carlson, a veteran star with the Washington Capitols; and Montvale’s Kyle Palmieri, now in his fifth season with the Anaheim Ducks.

“I’m fortunate to be playing in the NHL,” says Gaudreau. “I hope to show younger players from our state that you can make it.”

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  1. shotmypaw

    How is it even possible Bobby Ryan was left out of this article?