FROM BOSTON GLOBE...

Summit meeting for school hockey
By Craig Larson, Globe Staff June 6, 2008

The Massachusetts State Hockey Coaches Association will drop the puck on the 2008-09 season with a marquee event.

Determined to market its game and attract teams from rinks across the state, the MSHCA will host the 2008 High School Hockey Summit, an enterprising and educational daylong affair, Dec. 7 at New England Sports Center, the five-rink facility in Marlborough. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's executive board approved the inaugural summit yesterday.

"We can get under one roof boys' and girls' teams from Central, Eastern, and Western Massachusetts in a hockey environment," said Waltham boys' coach John Maguire, president-elect of the MSHCA. "The two key components: educate and promote."

With a goal of attracting at least 60 teams, the state coaches are introducing the summit as an alternative to their annual coaches' clinic, where numbers have been dwindling.

The MSHCA has already received positive feedback from 75 coaches from across the state interested in participating.

The summit, which will be held the day after the high school football Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium, also is receiving support from fasthockey.com, the Bruins, and other sponsors.

Each participating squad will play at least one minigame (two 12-minute periods), which will offer players exposure to both prep and college coaches. The summit will also feature at least one voice from the National Hockey League speaking from center ice in the 2,000-seat Rink 1, NCAA Clearinghouse information, and panel discussions on sportsmanship, leadership, game conduct, and the state of the high school game.

"The way things have been done in the past, coaches and leagues have been on their own to get things going - competing with showcase tournaments at the junior level, the youth hockey level," said Maguire. "By showcasing our kids, and the MIAA being on board, educating our student-athletes, it's a pretty neat thing." NESC general manager Wes Tuttle, whose venue hosted the World Sledge Hockey Championships in April, said, "We're excited that we were selected to host the summit. We're looking forward to it. Nothing like this has been done before in this state."

Athletic directors and coaches interested in having their programs participate are asked to contact Maguire at maguirej@comcast.net

Craig Larson can be reached at clarson@globe.com