Californian Ice Hockey: 41 Current NCAA Players

(left) Gabe Gauthier's goal against Maine in the 2004 National Championship game is considered by many to be the "most important goal" in DU hockey history

With Denver being one of the closest D-1 cities to the west coast and with a legacy of Californian players such as Rhett Rakhshani & Gabe Gauthier, no program is poised to benefit from the growth of Californian ice hockey, like DU.

DJ Powers, who has written for LetsGoDU in the past, takes an in depth look at Californian ice hockey. The article includes quotes from Rakhshani & Gauthier.

There are currently 41 players playing NCAA Division I college hockey that reside in and/or played all or part of their youth hockey in California. That is up from 37 last year. The 41 players represent 26 schools across the league.

Up in the Western Hockey League, there are currently 22 players that played all or part of their youth hockey in California. That is up from 13 last year. The 22 players represent 12 teams across the league.

In addition, there are currently 23 California players in the United States Hockey League, 21 in the North American Hockey League, five on the National Team Development Program’s (NTDP) U-17 roster, and approximately a dozen playing in the British Columbia Junior “A” league (BCHL).

Among the aforementioned leagues, there are ten players that reside in and/or played all or part of their youth hockey in California that are also NHL draft selections. [read rest of article]