The Kids of New Zealand
Imports helped develop the next generation of New Zealand-born hockey players and continue with the future generations.
Avondale, NZ — Taylor Rooney placed himself next to the net, keen for an opportunity.
Down three goals to none in the third period against the Skycity Stampede, the West Auckland Admirals wanted to head into the playoffs on a good note.
Surveying the ice, he found his chance.
Teammate Gareth McLeish’s wrist shot deflected off the pads of Skycity Stampede goaltender Alex Murray, falling right before Rooney. Defenceman Cameron Trew’s poke check attempt fell through as Rooney forced his way through the net.
Younger New Zealand natives, or Kiwis, like Rooney developed in leagues run by New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) imports, unlike the older generation of players. Their efforts contributed to an upward trend of younger players producing points in the NZIHL and on the national team.
Admirals captain Justin Daigle began coaching Rooney when the 22 year-old right winger was 14 and played for the U16 team in Auckland.
Four years later, Rooney returned to the same ice rink, but as a rookie for the Admirals in the 2016 season.
Daigle still finds it “insane” practicing with him every day.
But that isn’t the craziest part.
Every now and then, Daigle and Rooney will have a beer after practice together.
“It’s like, ‘Man, I coached you like six years ago, this is nuts!’”
He laughs it off, but him coaching his current teammates when they were young teens, or tweens, has become a norm. The Canadian import has been around the hockey scene for over six years.
As an assistant coach for the Under 20 national team, he names defencemen Alex Regan, Flynn Jones, and Lochlan Butler as some of the names to watch.
“To see where they’ve come and the development path that they’re on is just incredible,” Daigle said.
Between the three players, they’ve logged 31 games in the U18 World Championships and tallied 14 points.
“There’s heaps of talent, it’s really exciting,” Nick Craig, the captain of the senior national team, said.
“We’ve got a bright future when you look at the young teens and early twenties.”
With the average age between the three defencemen as 17 years, 7 months, the group will be around for a long time.
Both Regan and Butler made their way overseas in the United States and Sweden, respectively.
“It’s just kudos to the hard work they’ve put in because they are on the ice a ton, and that’s what it takes,” Daigle said.
Dedication to the sport is needed, but patience is valuable as well. Kiwi children are raised into a rugby culture, along with cricket and netball.
Ice hockey is still going through growing pains.
Regan recalls when he transitioned from inline to ice hockey with his twin and Admirals forward, Chris.
“When we were younger, up here in Auckland, the skill level was not the best when we transitioned over to ice hockey. In our second year of pee-wees, I think Chris got like 175 points and I got 75. We were playing with no goalie half the time and we’d still be winning like 11–1.”
The culture’s changed since then, but the twins were still caught off-guard when they travelled to Canada.
“It was a wake up call, just like how serious they were,” Alex said.
It’s 8 p.m. on Tuesday, and Daigle and his teammate A.J. Spiller are without their usual gear on the ice.
They’re still working their ‘day jobs’ as youth coaches for the Auckland Ice Hockey Association while the rest of the team is changing for their training.
Most of the other players on the team have occupations unrelated to ice hockey. The two Canadians, however, made it their mission to grow the ice hockey culture in the Auckland area when they moved out.
The numbers at the ‘Learn To Play’ level suggest their mission is going well. Across the two rinks in Auckland, they’re averaging between 40 and 50 kids three times a week.
“The growth is pretty much exponential at this point,” Daigle said.
In a census report published by School Sport New Zealand, an organisation that promotes sport in secondary schools, ice hockey went from 170 to 183 participants from 2018 to 2019. The eight percent increase represented the entire country.
Players are starting to get younger and inspired the addition of the Under-Nine age group.
“It’s a really good move in growing the sport and getting guys involved in the really, young years,” Craig said.
Craig’s seen videos of teammates’ children as young as three years old taking their first strides. It’s a sign of a different time.
