BCHL boom: The cross-continental hockey lifeline drawing more American players west

On Nov. 24, 2021, Tom Messineo prepared to block a shot. As the puck approached, Messineo, then a 19-year-old defenseman for the Chilliwack Chiefs of the British Columbia Hockey League, saw it was aimed higher than he expected.

Before Messineo could initiate evasive maneuvers, the puck bombed into his chin. Messineo’s half-shield was useless.

The shot broke Messineo’s jaw. He would need surgery. Messineo would not play again for more than two months. It was just his 13th game. Thanksgiving was the next day.

The injury was the latest aberration in Messineo’s British Columbian adventure. Earlier that month, floods washed over the province. Highways 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 19 and 99 were damaged. From Chilliwack, approximately 60 miles east of Vancouver, the Chiefs could not travel to play inland teams. Messineo’s billet father was marooned on a trip for several days.

In the days to come, Betsy Messineo, the defenseman’s mother, arrived in Chilliwack. She would accompany her son home to Westwood, Mass., just outside Boston, for an operation and recovery.

During his unexpected journey back east, Messineo tempered his discouragement with the excitement of what was to come. Just one month into his BCHL residency, Messineo had convinced the University of Connecticut to grant him something that had eluded him while he was a prep player at St. Sebastian’s School: an NCAA Division 1 commitment.

History of skill

NHL and NCAA teams take the BCHL seriously. NHL first-round picks Dante Fabbro (Penticton Vees), Kent Johnson (Trail Smoke Eaters) and Tyson Jost (Penticton) are BCHL alums. Matthew Wood, the No. 15 selection in the 2023 draft, scored a league-high 85 points in 46 games for the Victoria Grizzlies. Speed and skill are points of emphasis.

Congratulations to Victoria Grizzlies alumni Matthew Wood who was selected 15th overall to the Nashville Predators! We are all so proud of Matthew and this amazing accomplishment!#nashvillepredators #NHLDraft2023 #NHLDraft #GoGrizzlies #BearCountry
— Victoria Grizzlies (@BCHLGrizzlies) June 29, 2023

Traditionally, for teenage Western Canadians like Fabbro (Coquitlam, B.C.), Johnson (Port Moody, B.C.), Jost (St. Albert, Alberta) and Wood (Nanaimo, B.C.), the BCHL has been a convenient waystation for earning NCAA scholarships. Fabbro played at Boston University for three seasons. Johnson spent two years at Michigan. Jost turned pro after one season at North Dakota. Wood, who arrived at UConn last year as a 17-year-old freshman, may not be in Storrs for much longer.

American players have noticed.

“There’s a lot more New England kids headed that way too, lately,” said Boston Bruins director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau. “It’s been kind of a trend, probably in the last three or four years.”

It is a departure from when the BCHL was practically exclusive to British Columbians and Albertans. In 1998-99, current Chilliwack coach Brian Maloney (Bassano, Alberta) was a Chief himself. That season, there was only one American on Chilliwack’s roster: Jason Montgomery, from Blaine, Wa., a slap shot away from the U.S.-Canada border.

The BCHL has since experienced an import explosion from the United States’ East Coast. Since 2018-19, Maloney’s first year as Chilliwack’s coach and general manager, his charges have included Skyler Brind’Amour (Raleigh, N.C.) and Trevor Peca (Buffalo, N.Y.), sons of former NHLers Rod Brind’Amour and Michael Peca.

In 2021-22, Maloney coached Landyn Greatorex (Reading, Mass.) and Grant Riley (Rochester, N.Y.). Last season, five of the BCHL’s top 20 scorers were East Coast Americans: Jake Bongo (Ridgefield, Conn.), Jaiden Moriello (Saugus, Mass.), Micah Berger (Bethesda, Md.), Aaron Schwartz (Parkland, Fla.) and Tyler Kopff (Ridgewood, N.J.).

Three NHL executives with East Coast ties — Montreal Canadiens executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton (Granite Springs, N.Y.), San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier (Holliston, Mass.), Canadiens GM Kent Hughes (Westwood, Mass.) — have sent their sons to the BCHL: Jack Gorton (Victoria), Jayden Grier (Salmon Arm Silverbacks) and Riley Hughes (Victoria).

Today we’re welcoming Jack Gorton to our program! Jack joins us from the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL, where he totaled 45 points last season.
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) August 10, 2023

Kent Hughes was still an agent and college family adviser when his son, a 2018 St. Sebastian’s graduate, went to Victoria. Hughes became known for recommending the BCHL to players he advised.

The BCHL has become a welcoming landing spot for this stars-and-stripes cohort, offering college exposure and player development. That it requires cross-continental relocation, entry payment and billet fees does not seem to matter. The westward movement illustrates the literal lengths to which players will go to pursue frozen dreams.

Another option

Playing juniors is nothing new for American players. The clubs of the United States Hockey League, clustered in the Midwest, regularly compete with the National Team Development Program’s whiz kids. Kyle Connor, the Winnipeg Jets’ leading scorer in 2022-23, played for the Youngstown Phantoms before being drafted at No. 17 in 2015.

NHL hopefuls also play in the North American Hockey League. Connor Hellebuyck, Connor’s teammate, played for the NAHL’s Odessa Jackalopes before his two seasons of NCAA hockey at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Word of mouth, however, has turned American players on to the BCHL.

That was how it worked for David Jacobs, a forward from Needham, Mass. In 2020-21, during his senior year at Noble and Greenough School, Jacobs thought his NCAA future would be in Division 3. That winter, Princeton made Jacobs an unexpected offer.

“I wasn’t going to pass that up,” Jacobs said of the Ivy League university’s invitation. “That was top of my list on where I wanted to go.”

The offer, however, was contingent on Jacobs playing a year of junior before enrolling in 2022-23. If he agreed, Jacobs would be a 21-year-old Princeton freshman.

“I was already very old,” said Jacobs, who repeated ninth grade after transferring to Nobles from Needham High School. “All my friends were off to college. Then I repeated a year of high school, so I was already very old in school as well. By the time senior year was rolling around, I wanted to be in college as soon as possible.”

Friends of his older brother Danny, who also attended Nobles, had played in the BCHL. Jacobs was interested.

The Cowichan Valley Capitals wanted the right-shot forward. Kate and Greg Jacobs, David’s parents, gave their son the green light.

“They were just so happy I was going to have a future at Princeton,” Jacobs recalled, “that they would do anything I needed for that one year to go to school.”

A nervous but excited Jacobs traveled from Boston via Toronto to Victoria. He would be staying with the family of Capitals teammate Kahlil Fontana. Jacobs and Fontana hit it off right away.

Their friendship took an unforeseen turn.

The Capitals traded Fontana to the Coquitlam Express prior to the start of 2021-22. Jacobs’ billet family was shaken. So was he.

“Very tough situation,” Jacobs said. “One of the toughest I experienced out there.”

Jacobs shook off the disappointment at the rink. He became one of the Capitals’ go-to forwards. Jacobs led Cowichan Valley in scoring with 52 points in 54 games.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts flatlander marveled in the nearby old-growth forests. He enjoyed a visit to Tofino, known for its surfing, on the western coast of Vancouver Island. Jacobs remains friends with people he met in B.C.

“The biggest thing I took away was confidence,” Jacobs said of his BCHL experience. “I knew if I was going out there, I was going to be able to make plays and score. That’s when I was at my best. It’s been very important for me hockey-wise — going to games with confidence, knowing you can do certain things and not being afraid to try anything. It was a very good tool for me.”

It translated to college. Jacobs scored 15 points in 32 games for the Tigers in 2022-23. He is studying economics.

For one of Jacobs’ fellow Massachusetts-to-BCHL acquaintances, college hockey was never a guarantee.

Chasing a commitment

Sean Duffy believed in Messineo. Every time he saw his uncle, Duffy, the team manager at St. Sebastian’s, pitched him on the smooth-skating left-shot defenseman.

Mike Cavanaugh wasn’t as certain.

“He kept hounding me and hounding me,” the UConn coach said of his nephew. “He’s like, ‘You’ve got to watch Tom Messineo.’ So I did. I just wasn’t sure. At the time, we had a senior-laden defensive corps. I was like, ‘I don’t know if we have a spot for him.’ ”

Messineo, who played against Jacobs in prep school, was a good defenseman. But he was not a pace-pusher. It may have been why NCAA coaches like Cavanaugh were not interested.

“You’re like, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ You’re not getting these looks,” Messineo said. “It can definitely be frustrating sometimes. Because you want to feel like you’re progressing and working toward your goal. It doesn’t always feel like that when you’re not getting noticed. I never put up a ton of points, so it kind of makes sense from a scouting standpoint that I’m not going to be the first guy called all the time.”

By his senior year, Messineo had not gotten any college offers. He thought about going to the NAHL.

Another option appeared.

The year before, Tommy Lyons, a fellow Westwood native and Messineo’s former St. Sebastian’s teammate, had played for Chilliwack prior to enrolling at Harvard. Maloney learned that Messineo was looking for a junior option.

Maloney called Messineo. The defenseman liked what he heard. Lyons confirmed what Maloney was pitching: a fast-paced league committed to showcasing NCAA hopefuls and gracious to Massachusetts teenagers.

That did not stop Messineo from acknowledging the gravity of his decision. Sometime during the second leg of his Boston-Toronto-Vancouver journey, a thought came to the then-19-year-old: “Am I really doing this?”

It did not take long upon touchdown for Messineo to feel welcome. Maloney took to him rapidly.

“Nowadays, kids don’t like to play uncomfortable. You could tell that with Tom, that wasn’t going to be an issue with him,” said Maloney. “Everywhere you saw him, you just saw him competing. It was just a matter of getting your hands on him a little bit, teaching him and doing a lot more reps.”

Messineo’s first game was against the Langley Rivermen on Oct. 8, 2021. Even before that, Messineo was surprised to see college recruiters watching the Chiefs practice. He took that as a good sign.

Getting noticed

In the fall of 2021, Cavanaugh and then-assistant coach Joe Pereira traveled to British Columbia. They were on site for a BCHL showcase to monitor Wood, the Huskies’ hotshot recruit, and see another Chilliwack player.

Cavanaugh has always liked the BCHL. In 2021-22, UConn had eight former BCHLers on its roster, including three East Coast players: Sasha Teleguine (North Attleboro, Mass.), Jake Veilleux (South Windsor, Conn.) and John Wojciechowski (Mamaroneck, N.Y.). In comparison, six of that season’s Huskies came from the USHL.

“It’s a tough league. It’s a hard league,” Cavanaugh said of the USHL. “You really have to grind. I would say the BC league tends to be a little more offensive. In some ways, when you get a player out of the USHL, you know you’re getting a good, solid hockey player. But in the BCHL, they really focus more on offense, in my opinion.”

During the showcase, Cavanaugh and Pereira noticed Messineo more than the other Chilliwack player they intended to watch. Pereira, now a Boston University assistant, told Cavanaugh he liked Messineo. Cavanaugh, perhaps with a touch of wryness, responded that his nephew had been pumping Messineo’s tires for years. Somehow, a continent away from where Cavanaugh first watched Messineo, the defenseman had caught his eye to a degree he never did at St. Sebastian’s.

“I think sometimes things just kind of click,” said Messineo. “I felt pretty confident out there. I felt like I fit into the team really well. So I could just play my game and contribute to the team’s success. I just felt comfortable. That’s a huge step toward really tapping into parts of your game that you might not show in other settings or circumstances.”

In early November of 2021, Cavanaugh made Messineo an offer. The defenseman agreed. Messineo’s backup plan — a second season in Chilliwack — would not be required.

NEWS: Messineo Earns Commitment From the University of Connecticut
“Thomas is a selfless player that will do anything for his teammates, it is always a nice feeling to see one of your players rewarded for their efforts.”
🔗 #ChwkChiefs
— Chilliwack Chiefs (@Chiefs_Hockey) November 10, 2021

“Super excited, obviously,” Messineo recalled. “But it was also a huge relief and getting a weight off your shoulders. Because now you can just focus on developing and playing. You know you have a spot for the next season.”

Maloney was a four-year player at Michigan State. His college teammates included Shawn Horcoff, Duncan Keith, John-Michael Liles and Ryan Miller. It was not lost on Maloney how Messineo had played himself onto a D1 roster.

“Pretty proud of him. Pretty proud,” Maloney said. “There were a few smaller schools that were interested in him. I remember calling them and basically letting them know, ‘Hey, you better jump on this kid now. Because he seems to be getting better every week.’ For whatever it is, they were hesitant about it. He’s just one of those kids that I just knew, having gone through college myself, I knew he’d be a great college player.”

As a UConn freshman in 2022-23, the left-shot defenseman played mostly with fellow Massachusetts native Jake Flynn on a shutdown pairing. Messineo’s skating and fearlessness caught Cavanaugh’s attention. Messineo scored seven points in 35 games.

“I do want to play pro hockey for as long as I can,” said the 21-year-old, who is studying business. “Then have a good education to pursue life after hockey.”

A continent away, Maloney was following Messineo’s progress. He hopes more Americans follow Messineo’s example.

“Why not? If it’s an opportunity to get kids to school,” said Maloney, “then why not?”

(Photo of Tom Messineo / Courtesy of University of Connecticut)