NEWINGTON, CT – Spending time with a league commissioner provides a glimpse into just how harried and crazed of a life that it can be. It also reveals a greater appreciation as to how difficult the business side of hockey can be.
Mike Santos, is in his fourth season as the Executive Director of the Eastern Hockey League (EHL), a USA Hockey Tier III league that held one of their six Showcase events of its season last week at the Newington Ice Arena.
A showcase events allows the public to see another level of junior hockey, but more importantly, it provides an opportunity for collegiate coaches and scouts, the chance to look for prospects to fill roster openings.
The host team, the Connecticut Chiefs, includes ex-Hartford Whaler, Yvon “Ike” Corriveau, as an operator. There’s another Connecticut team in the league, the RoughRiders. They are coached by Eric Lind (New Canaan/Avon Old Farms) who played for three Danbury minor pro teams, the Trashers (UHL), the Mad Hatters (EPHL), and the Whalers (FHL).
Several other coaches have Connecticut ties.
Chris Cerrella is the Head Coach of the New Hampshire Avalanche (Quinnipiac University/New Haven Knights (UHL). He was also the coach of the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack for six years. Adam Houli (Gunnery Prep/Trinity College) (NESCAC) and Danbury Whalers) (FHL) coaches the New Jersey 87’s.
Three hours with Santos was like hanging with Al Pacino in Donnie Brasco, “Lets walk and talk.”
Santos, who started out his hockey executive life as the marketing director for the departed New Haven Nighthawks. Now, as EHL commissioner, on this day he was an uncle, commissioner, business trade analyst, well-informed fan and he is all of those things to the EHL.
Hockey, for the Massachusetts native and Florida resident, is in his DNA. His sneakers get a frequent work out at these Showcases and as Commissioner, he makes the final call.
Santos demonstrated his avuncular side while chatting with one of the youngest players in the league, Cole Scott, of the East Coast Wizards (Bedford, MA).
Santos inquired and encouraged Scott’s play. He asked how he was doing at school and wondered if he had a driving companion?
“Hockey is a lot of retail at this level. There’s a lot more hands-on work and one-on-one communication that’s required.”
Santos then walked to his left and handled a delicate and thorny issue tactfully about a potential ownership change with one of his teams and then arranged a meeting with an interested party.
“We had our Board of Governors meeting yesterday and, like any league, there are a variety of issues we’re dealing with. There are different owners, all with their own issues. You would be amazed how it permeates to the youngest levels of hockey. You would be amazed how many youth teams that are actually owned by someone. We’re talking 10, 11, 12-year-olds. It’s more complicated at this level dealing with people and egos. There’s never a dull moment,” Santos, who also serves on USA hockey junior and legal councils, said.
One of many stories Santos shared that best exemplifies the trials and tribulations he encounters was regarding the handling of player safety, which has progressed at all levels in the past five years and become priority number one.
“One young man barks at the referee one too many times and gets hit with a misconduct for not having his mouthpiece in. The coach calls later all upset. He’s concerned the player is being scouted by such-and-such schools today and they hit him with a misconduct for not having on a mouthpiece. We don’t enforce that here.”
Santos shoots back, “Are you serious ? Really? Its on page one of the league handbook. It’s a policy directive from USA Hockey. You want to argue that before a judge if some kid’s parents are suing because the kid suffered a head injury in a league game? Tell the judge, we have the rule, but we don’t enforce it…ooh that would go over just great,” Santos said with a very heavy dose of sarcasm in his still audible Massachusetts accent.
Point noted and he takes out his cell phone to show pictures of another player who was injured in the league recently and the dental damage from wearing just a half visor not understanding why any player would not opt for full face protection.
Santos career has prepared him well. He worked for the NHL as a Manager of Special Events in Montreal and New York and in 1993 he ran the NHL Draft in Hartford.
He was also on the management side of the game serving as an assistant GM/Director of Hockey Ops with the New York Islanders, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers.
He has also helped to run the AHL operations of their affiliates in Lowell, Rochester, Milwaukee, and San Antonio. Santos was the Commissioner and President of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) where he steered the league out of chaos and into prosperity. He was also the President of the Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) for two seasons.
Santos has seen the game grow in quality, financially, and in complexity. He also has a JD degree from St. John’s University.
Two areas where he sees big changes being needed are in the cost of equipment, and in better development programs for officiating, and growing college hockey properly.
Walking through the pro shop, Santos stops to look at the racks of the shiny graphite sticks. “What’s the real difference in the weight and technology of these sticks,” he said while sampling a few.
“(Not much), and look at the price tag. $250 per stick. Get a dozen of those, that’s more than $3,000, and if they break, which they invariably do, that’s a lot of money for a kid. Outfitting a growing kid at like $2,000 or more is something that has to get addressed or we’re gonna price out certain kids from the game.
“I remember as a kid we used any stick we could get. In high school, we got Christian sticks for free. The coach would drop a box in the center of locker room, so I used them. In college, there was a choice of Titan or KOHO. I still only managed a couple of goals a season. It wasn’t the stick. There are no wood sticks anymore. Major League Baseball still mandates wood bats. The NHL has a chance to do the same thing, but chose another path. I’m not sure what the formula is to deal with this, but the costs associated with the game from ice time to the equipment is considerable,” said Santos, a Boston College grad with a Masters degree from the US Sports Academy.
His lawyer skills came in handy with the NAHL. He helped to draft a constitution, and put a solid structure in place. The league is still in business and thriving.
The players in the USHL, or NAHL, that are future college prospects, can go to, or come to the league if need be, in order to maintain their NCAA eligibility and elevate their game. It’s now coast-to-coast and a major component for Division I college hockey. The EHL is on the same path.
“More kids are playing out West, and the non-traditional markets are no longer non-traditional any longer. Now we have more kids from Texas, Arizona and Southern California playing hockey. Clearly, we have players for all levels, including Division I, and we have a great many Division II and III schools here today. The player pool is spread throughout the country and with the high quality college club programs too. I was in Los Angeles last summer walking by a construction site near UCLA. I ask the guy, ‘What are you building?’ A new football building. The other one is like 10-15 years old. The money is there, and all the work the Kings have done out there, I think both USC, and UCLA could both have D1 teams. They both had very strong club programs for years. Arizona State’s new building will be ready in two years. Washington, Oregon, Utah, Oklahoma, and Texas have the resources, the land, and the program infrastructure to do this. The players are available. It’s having the access. If you want to really grow the game nationally, that’s very important and necessary with the amount of hockey being played out West.”
Next Santos went rink-side to watch some game action with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) head coach, Sean Walsh. They witness a kid nailing another kid in the corner with a head shot with about five seconds left in the game.
A game misconduct was handed out. Santos’ keen eye for detail watches the post-game interaction with the head coach of the kid hit with the game misconduct.
“Look at him, trying to work over the ref and the assistant with the linesman. It was the right call. The game’s over and you drill a kid like that, no need for it.”
He walks away as the linesman leaves the arena to chat with him about the play.
A few head coaches stop by to chat on a few things going on at the Showcase. He inquires how their hotel accommodations were.
Then his phone rings and a former NHL’er involved with one of the teams is calling to discuss future scheduling.
Santos starts running down a composite game structure off the top of his head for total games played, home and away, and the regional opponents that are possible without blinking or looking anything up.
“Things are always evolving and you’re often planning ahead on one subject or another. Junior hockey is changing and you have to keep adapting and these showcases are an example of the growth of the game. The kids are coming from many different places and we give them an avenue to do so.”
Santos and the EHL’s work will always be a part of the growing showcase of the mosaic of hockey in the US.
