Charlie Davis grew up in Milton, Mass., where he spent his youth hockey career playing for the South Shore Kings and the Boston Jr. Bruins. The ’97 recently committed to Southern New Hampshire, where he will matriculate next season.
Neutral Zone chatted with the forward about his hockey experience, the path to his commitment and more.
Neutral Zone: How and when did you start playing hockey?
Charlie Davis: When I was three years old, my dad brought me to the local town rink for learn to skate. I learned pretty quickly and started playing hockey when I was four years old.
NZ: What’s your earliest memory from playing hockey?
CD: My earliest memory of hockey was my first ever game. I played in a house league in my town and I got a goal and my dad kept the game puck and I still have that puck in my bedroom today.
NZ: What was your youth hockey experience like?
CD: My youth hockey experience was unbelievable for me. I played for the 1997 South Shore Kings coached by Neil Shea. We won the EHF I believe four years in a row, Silver Sticks in Ontario twice, and went to the Nike Bauer Invite in Chicago where we lost in the championship. We had a lot of great talent on the team and I made great friends that I still talk to and hang out with today.
NZ: Take us through the NCAA recruitment process. What other schools were you talking to and where did you visit?
CD: My NCAA recruitment process had its ups and downs. It’s a process and you just need to trust it. I communicated with many different schools throughout my recruitment process both DI and DIII but the only schools I visited were SNHU and Wentworth.
NZ: What made you decide to commit to SNHU? What went into that decision for you and your family to know it was the right place?
CD: I chose SNHU because I want to study Construction Management and they have a great program there. I will be 25 years old when I graduate and the opportunities I will have at SNHU will help me get a job after my hockey career is over.
NZ: What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen while playing hockey?
CD: I can’t remember anything that really pops out as strange while I was on the ice. But when I went to watch some of my friends play in their junior hockey game, one of their teammates was in a fight. While in the fight he ripped off the other player’s helmet and used that to hit the player he was fighting. The fighter ended up receiving about 120 minutes worth of penalties. It was definitely the strangest thing I’ve seen at a hockey game. Even though it was a fight. Fighting is in the game of hockey and it will always be.
NZ: What’s the best piece of advice anyone’s given you in hockey?
CD: The best on-ice hockey advice that I received was when I was seven years old and it was, “There is no such thing as a bad shot.” It made me start shooting more, and deflections occur all the time so aiming away from the net is not always a bad idea.
NZ: What are your best on-ice skills?
CD: My best on-ice skill is my stick handling ability. I started working on my hands since I was 4yrs old. My older sister played hockey and ending up playing D1 women’s ice hockey at Union College and my parents would always make me go with them to her games. So I told them that I would only go if I can bring a stick and ball. I ended up doing this until I was about 14yrs old. Also, everyday since I remember, after I finished my homework and had dinner with my family I would head down to my basement and stick handle for hours until time to go to bed.
NZ: What aspect of your game are you working on improving the most?
CD: The aspect I work on the most is my speed. I want to be lighter on my feet and want my first two steps to be faster and stronger. I train at the best off-ice program in New England, Edge Performance Systems, they are great and they have been helping me improve my game for the past 4 years.
NZ: Is there a professional player you model your game after?
CD: I try to model my game to be like Brad Marchand. He is a highly skilled grinder. He is an overall player. He is fast, has grit, great hands, vision, smarts, very creative, etc. Even tho he is a smaller forward and I am not, he is someone that no one likes to play against and that is what I love about his game.
NZ: Who’s been the biggest influence in your hockey career?
CD: The biggest influence in my hockey career is 100% my parents. They have supported me since I was 4yrs old. They have pushed me to stay focus on what I want to do with my life/career and they sacrificed a lot to help me get to where I am today. I am very thankful that I have both of them by my side.
NZ: What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced in hockey?
CD: The toughest challenge I have faced in my hockey career and life is losing my #1 fan, my Grandmother. She passed right before I decided to commit to SNHU. she drove me to my practices/games my whole life. She wasn’t a normal grandmother in the stands, she would yell and cheer in the stands. She was one of the first after the games to tell me if I played well or if I didn’t play well. Her last wishes was for me is to play college hockey and that Is why I dedicate my hockey career to her every day I step on the ice.
Photo Credit: Hickling Images
