Validation & Assurance by Association

Maksim Sokolovskii selected in the first round by Philadelphia Flyers

One of the toughest parts, socially, about playing a niche sport like ice hockey -- in the United States -- is that your athletic abilities are so often overlooked or ignored.

I know the general thought in my kids' high school hallways is that they don't play for the high school team because they're just not good enough.

Even the kids on the team believe that.

It's a paradoxical situation to be in as a teenager...knowing confidently that there isn't a single player on the high school team that could compete at the level you and your younger brother play...but without an avenue to showcase it.

Fact is...he's too good to play for the high school team.

Feels arrogrant to say...but it's also accurate.

IYKYK.

I'm sure a lot of hockey families experience this -- far before the kids reach high school, even.

Hockey isn't like soccer, basketball, or baseball. There isn't a "rec" league.

I mean, hockey's version of rec league is town hockey...and, frankly, it's the same level as most travel soccer or baseball....but the general public doesn't know that.

The number of times, as we participate in other sports, when another parent will exclaim, "Ugh I can't believe we need to drive to Alliston for next week's jamboree..."

Alliston is the next town over. 10-minute drive.

We hockey parents are accustomed to having to drive anywhere within a 4-hour window...for a single 36 minute game.

Or, "The seasons are getting so expensive..." when it's literally $180 for the entire season, uniform included, and they even give you a ball and a trophy too.

Just as sports parents alone, hockey parents are a different breed that get grouped in, unjustly, with everyone else.

Sorry baseball parents -- I know you truly think your bats and gloves are expensive...but you really have no idea.

I've said on here before that hockey is near the top when it comes to difficulty. It's really hard.

The skating piece alone is a separator.

Kids learn to walk and run when their toddlers. That's the base of almost every common sport...

Hockey...and swimming...are different. Totally foreign skillset.

Go to any swimming pool or hockey rink when it's public swim or public skating and you'll see!

So, with that, it's rare that any of my kids get the "athletic" recognition, from a wide audience, that they probably deserve. I'd say that's true for 90% of hockey families.

IYKYK.

But this week...a player that my son has played against...recently and repeatedly...was selected in the first round of the NHL draft by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Maksim Sokolovskii. First round pick. 27th overall. Wow.

My son shared it on social media and people at school noticed.

I shouldn't say that.

Let's walk that back and say they acknowldeged it.

It raisied a few eyebrows.

Yeah, Duncan plays at the level where guys get drafted into the NHL.

MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, the Bundesliga...they're not looking at the high school team.

Frankly, neither are NCAA D1 schools.

This isn't rec league. He's shoulder to shoulder, literally, with guys headed to the NHL.

It's a different realm.

Honestly, I'm not sure how much my kids realize how special it is, or how privileged and talented they are, to play with guys from Slovakia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Finland, Kazakhstan, Russia, Sweden, and Germany...regularly.

Many are even teammates. That's NOT rec league.

But, even for me, as a parent, it's validation that we've naviagated this hockey journey pretty well.

I don't forsee my sons getting selected in the NHL draft when the 2009's and then 2011's are eligible...but they play at the same level with guys who do get drafted.

This is proof of it.

And this wasn't some "one weekend" tournament either -- Sokolovskii played for Atlantic Coast Academy, in our U16 league, one hour west on I-90 from where we play. Not just passing through -- he played the entire season.

He's a 2008 birth year.

My son is a 2009 birth year and was playing up.

Maksim is 6'8" and 240 pounds. Massive size -- that's what got him the initial attention.

The fact that he can play too...got him drafted.

My kids play in the same league.

Affirmation that we're in the right room and playing near the top.

One of those, "Yeah, you can get there from here" moments.

Congrats to Maksim -- pretty much everyone playing out of Western Massachusetts us pulling for you!

Maksim Sokolovskii - Photo: Joe Hrycych/Getty Images

Agree? Disagree? Let me know -- I love the feedback from all angles!

Chris Rutsch

Hockey Dad

Year round, I spend a significant amount of time and money transporting my three boys to and from freezing cold ice rinks. Not because I expect them to make it to the NHL but because I know the rigorous youth hockey experience will serve them well in the future.