It took only a couple of games for Shane Lachance to notice a difference between prep school hockey and junior hockey.
“You’re going to get beaten up. After the game, you’re definitely sore. It’s a hard game to play. It’s a lot on your body, physically,’’ said Lachance, the hulking former Tabor Academy winger who recently joined the Junior Bruins of the National Collegiate Development Conference.
If this were a normal year, the 6-foot-4 Lachance wouldn’t be playing juniors at this point.
He would have played two or three dozen games this fall for the U-18 Neponset Valley River Rats in preparation for the prep season. But because of COVID-19, Lachance was stuck on campus at Tabor, unable to leave on weekends to play hockey.
And with the New England prep season very much up in the air at a number of schools, including Tabor, Lachance recently decided it was time to make a change. He’s living at home now in Andover, Mass., and taking classes remotely at Tabor, where he is a junior.
This is Lachance’s draft year and playing games in front of NHL scouts is critical. With input from his father, Scott, who played more than 800 NHL games and is now the head of U.S. scouting for the New Jersey Devils, Lachance decided it was time to make the move to the Junior Bruins.
“I talked to my dad a lot. He and I were in constant communication about it. School was a big part of it, too. To get the prep school experience, you’ve got to board there. It’s fun to be there, live with your friends, but at some point you’ve got to realize this is a big year. You can’t go too long without playing games, especially as we head into winter,’’ he said.
“I just needed to play some competitive hockey. It had been since the end of February since I played an organized hockey game. I needed to get that compete back and get playing in front of people again,’’ he said.
Lachance had been on the ice at Tabor, so jumping right into games with the Junior Bruins wasn’t a problem.
“We were able to skate a good amount, actually. I think we skated probably five times a week, just practices and skill stuff,’’ he said.
An ’03 birth-year player, Lachance committed to Boston University in August. That was no surprise, since his father played there and he is the grandson of Jack Parker, BU’s legendary coach.
In his first Junior Bruins game last week against the Northern Cyclones, Lachance stepped in on the top line with Union commit Colin Graf and Brendan Gibbons. He saw time on both the power play and the penalty kill. And, yes, there were NHL scouts in the stands.
Junior Bruins coach Mike Anderson has helped Lachance make the transition.
“He’s made it easy for me. There’s been constant communication to make sure I fit in and get comfortable with the team and with junior hockey. I’m a younger guy and he’s making sure I get acclimated with the older guys,’’ the 17-year-old Lachance said.
The next step after this season could be the United States Hockey League. The Tri-City Storm drafted him last spring.
“I’m not 100 percent sure, but that’s what I would like to do. We’ll see how it goes. There’s a lot of stuff that’s unknown right now,’’ he said.
Prep players to NCDC
Lachance is not the only prep player to move on to the NCDC.
Forward Coleman Jenkins (Mansfield, Mass.), formerly of Tabor, also has joined the Junior Bruins.
Jack Brandt, another ex-Tabor forward, is now playing for the South Shore Kings.
Michael Stenberg, the Penn State commit who previously played for Thayer Academy, is with the Kings, too.
Hughes goes home
Simon Hughes was expected to be one of the top forwards on the Mount St. Charles U-16 team this season.
Unfortunately, his stay in Woonsocket is over. The talented ’04 forward played just three games for Mount before heading home to Prince Edward Island. Word is Hughes was frustrated with the stops and starts in the schedule caused by COVID-19.
Hughes was selected in the second round, 38th overall, of the QMJHL draft by the Saint John Seadogs.
All the way from Japan
The South Shore Kings this week added a Japanese player with an impressive international pedigree.
Chikara Hanzawa, listed at 5-foot-7, scored one of the Kings’ goals in a 4-2 loss to the Islanders Hockey Club on Wednesday.
An ’01, Hanzawa helped Japan win the gold medal at the IIHF Division 2A World Junior Championship earlier this year. With 7-5-12 in five games, he was voted best forward in the tournament.
Hanzawa spent most of last season with the Minnesota Wilderness of the NAHL.
Hat’s off to McCreary
The story behind the hat worn during home games by Billy McCreary, coach of the Danbury Hat Tricks of the NAHL, bears repeating.
It started in 2019 after the death of his grandfather Bill McCreary, who had a long, illustrious career in pro hockey, including over 300 NHL games.
“At his funeral, my family gifted me a hat that he was given when he played for the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters. That’s where he played junior. When he signed, they gave him a hat — it’s a beaver-fur hat,’’ said McCreary, a former player at Providence College and Curry College who coached the Danbury team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League last season before taking over the NAHL team this year.
“I took it as a sign, so I put it on for the next game and we went on a 12-game win streak with that hat on the bench. On the road, I wear a different hat. At home, I always wear my grandfather’s hat.’’
