The path to playing Division 1 NCAA hockey is not a straight line, and making it to the most competitive conference, Hockey East, is even less so. Playing for your favorite team in Hockey East? That’s a far-flung dream.
For two Concord kids, that dream became a reality this season.
Ryan Philbrick was a hometown kid, Concord head coach Dunc Walsh said. He probably stayed a year too long at Concord High School when he could have been playing for a cushier prep school at the highest level.
He first put his skates on ice in the all-encompassing “Learn to Skate” program in Concord, and took off from there. At age 12, Philbrick played in the city through Pee Wee hockey and then made the move to the NH Avalanche travel hockey team.
Coming into Concord High, he was immediately one of the top players on the team.
“He’s a smart defenseman that moves the puck really well, good decision maker. Doesn’t play overly physical, but he can play that way if he has to,” Walsh said.
“The three years with us, his sophomore, junior year, he was the best player in the league,” he added.
For Philbrick, playing for the Crimson Tide was a dream come true. He went on to win the 2021 Division I State Championship and Player of the Year award his junior season. He had reached the pinnacle of NHIAA hockey; little did he know, he would go much further past the confines of Everett Arena.
“That was probably some of the most fun I’ve ever had, playing hockey, just playing with my childhood friends and still my best friends to this day,” Philbrick said about his time on the Tide.
Philbrick moved to Cushing Academy in Massachusetts to continue playing, where he scored 39 points (six goals, 33 assists) in 68 games.
After wrapping up his high school career, he played in the USHL for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and then moved to the British Columbia Hockey League with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Moving across the continent and leaving the comforts of home was hard, he said, but the experience helped him grow.
“I’ve been very fortunate for all the support from the community and my family,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of sacrifices, and it’s kind of paying off now.”
Philbrick has already debuted for UNH this season, participating in all three games.
He’ll feature in front of a home crowd for the first time since his time at Concord High at the Whittemore Center this weekend. He said he can’t wait for his family to watch him.
Ireland Fredrickson watched her older brother, Parker, and Ryan Philbrick win a state championship the year before leaving on a hockey journey of her own.
She didn’t move across the country like Philbrick; instead, she ping-ponged back and forth between semesters at Concord High School and playing hockey for North American Hockey Academy (NAHA) in Massachusetts.
She first put on skates in her backyard in Concord when her dad built a backyard rink, and she participated in the “Learn to Skate” program and in Concord Capital’s “DynoMites.”
After playing youth hockey in Concord, she began playing travel hockey for a few teams around New England in a routine hockey parents know well: travelling with their kid up and down the region every weekend to play multiple games.
“It was crazy, because it opened so many opportunities, branching out into Mass and other places and playing against other people who are also striving for the goals you want to achieve,” she said.
Similarly to Philbrick, being away from home and friends in Concord was hard. Her discombobulated social life was one of the biggest sacrifices of playing academy hockey far from Concord and of transferring schools.
However, NAHA was the best place to improve her hockey — Fredrickson played as a forward there all four years of high school, scoring 73 points over that span.
When she heard UNH was interested in recruiting her, it was the perfect opportunity.
“I grew up going to those games when I was little, so it’s definitely a full circle moment, just being able to put on the jersey and represent the Wildcats,” Fredrickson said.
The freshman business administration major described herself as a major homebody, so having her family attend games is a huge plus.
She’s played in three games for UNH so far this season and thinks that as she grows accustomed to the pace of play at the collegiate level, she’ll find ways to make an impact on the team.
“I’m definitely a fast player, and I’m team-oriented… just giving 110% effort every game, every practice,” Fredrickson said of her strengths.
She added that she hopes more girls fall in love with the game like she did and advised them to enjoy it every step of the way.
Philbrick’s next home game is Saturday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m., against #6 Quinnipiac at the Whittemore Center in Durham.
Fredrickson won’t return to play a home game until Saturday, Nov. 1, against Merrimack College at 2 p.m.