Dave Starman on college, USA Hockey now and in the future

Dave Starman has experience working in nearly all facets of hockey. His career path has taken him through youth, junior, college and professional hockey.

His time in the media began with the AHL’s Baltimore Skipjacks, where he provided analysis for play-by-play colleague and longtime acquaintance Kenny Albert.

Starman had grown up on Long Island, listening to Kenny’s dad, Marv, call New York Rangers games. Being a New York native meant there were numerous opportunities to work around the game, with the Rangers, Islanders and ultimately the Devils in the area.

He had early opportunities to track statistics and work on video production. On those jobs, he was able to learn from John Davidson, who provided color commentary for the Rangers for nearly 20 years.

“JD was a huge influence on me,” Starman told Pucks and Recreation. “Just A: Listening to him, and B: You could give him takes and bounce ideas off him and watch how he prepared. He was awesome. He probably doesn’t realize the impact he had on me.”

Working with Albert, Davidson and Davidson’s broadcast partner Sam Rosen helped Starman progress into the analyst world. However, in the mid-’90s, he took to one of his other passions, taking a position as the video assistant coach for the IHL’s Atlanta Knights. After a coaching change, he ended up back in the booth, doing color for the team.

Starman would move on the coaching staff of the Macon Whoopee, then the Memphis Riverkings, both of the Central Hockey League. After his three-year venture in the CHL ended, an agent friend of his told him about a new network called CSTV, which had created a position for him as an analyst on its college hockey telecasts.

“I laughed and I said (to him), ‘The last college hockey game I watched, I played in,’” Starman recalled. “He said, ‘Let’s throw your name into the hat anyways,’ and long story short, 13 years later here we are.”

CSTV eventually morphed into the CBS Sports Network, where Starman remains a staple on weekly NCHC broadcasts. On top of this role, he has worked as a studio analyst on ESPN’s NCAA tournament coverage for five years and as a color commentator for the World Junior Championship on the U.S. edition of the NHL Network since its 2007 inception.

Jost, Keller on radar

There has been a bevy of impact freshmen throughout college hockey in recent years. In the last two, Kyle Connor, Noah Hanifin and Jack Eichel all logged one season in the NCAA before going pro.

With the 2016-17 season underway, there are two players that Starman suggests fans keep an eye on, the first being Tyson Jost of North Dakota.

“(Jost) is going to be really good,” he said. “Great skill and quick. Processes the game like an older player. Better than average hockey sense for a younger kid. I think he’s got real good separation and speed. He just knows where to go and has a nice sense of where to be and when.”

Jost got off to a quick start for the reigning national champions. He scored once and added two assists in the opening weekend sweep of Canisius.

Out east, Clayton Keller also made an early impression with a goal and an assist in Boston University’s 6-1 win over Colgate. In Starman’s view, Keller stands out among an impressive BU recruiting class.

“Electric,” he explained. “(Keller) is fun, electric, and so skilled. He is everything you want a hockey player to be at the college level. The way that a guy like (former Boston College forward Johnny Gaudreau) got you excited, he can get you excited the same way. He’s just fun to watch. He’s quick, great hands, sees the ice well, he’s not afraid and he can make plays. I like kids who can make plays, and this kid can make a ton of them.”

Another recently somewhat controversial topic regarding college hockey is drafted seniors who remain at school for four years, then declare free agency. This was a hot topic this past summer with the frenzy surrounding 2016 Hobey Baker winner Jimmy Vesey.

Vesey, originally Nashville property, eventually signed with the New York Rangers after his senior campaign. New teammate Kevin Hayes was another high-caliber player who took this option.

“I really think it comes down to the individual kid,” Starman opined. “But the fact that the loophole is there, it’s kind of like, even though you’re drafted, you still have free agency in your back pocket. So, ultimately, the player wins.

“It’s probably not what a lot of management teams want to see. I think that if you’re a player you should make your intention known to your NHL team that you’re probably going to explore the free agency option, and you should let your team know earlier than later. I think that’s a common courtesy part of it.”

As for Vesey’s on-ice potential in the pros, Starman said, “He’s a good kid and he works hard. I think he is well-suited for what the Rangers and the NHL want, and that is kids with skill that can produce. A guy who is really strong with all of the fundamentals. A guy who is not afraid to go to hard areas. A guy who can beat you with skill and can beat you with smarts. He’s not a one-dimensional guy. He plays the whole rink.

“He’s got a hell of a lot of skill and he plays the game the right way. I think that once he assimilates to the NHL you’re looking at the kind of player who should be an impact guy.”

‘I think it can only help us in the long run’

The landscape of college hockey has shifted significantly since 2013. There have already been numerous conference realignments, with more in line for the future.

Arizona State has yet to join a conference. The second-year Division I program was recently denied admission to the NCHC.

Starman thinks that the NCHC administrators were wise to keep their conference as is for now while the national landscape evolves. Nonetheless, the fact that the Sun Devils are the first Pac-12 hockey team and another team from the Southwest is good for the game.

“I think it’s huge,” he explained. “I think that that is a region that is producing players, and therefore you add another school into the mix in that area and you have a really good chance of keeping those elite Rocky Mountain district kids in college hockey instead of going to the (Western major junior league).

“The other thing it does is if Arizona State catches fire and becomes a good product and the Pac-12 likes it, who is the next Pac-12 team to say, ‘Hey, we can do this too?’

“You get another power conference involved in our sport, I think it can only help us in the long run.”

When Notre Dame moves to the Big Ten next season, there will be three conferences (Big Ten, Hockey East and Atlantic Hockey) with an odd number of teams. While many believe this will be a reason to shift teams around to fix the imbalance, Starman believes it could help increase the popularity of the game.

With a balanced schedule, most nonconference games take place early in the season. During the later months, teams largely face their conference foes as they battle for playoff spots. Keeping the imbalanced schedule would change this trend.

“I think the more big nonconference games you play late in the season, the more interest you will generate nationwide,” Starman offered. “If BU and North Dakota are playing in the end of February with PairWise implications on the line, that to me is a game that is going to attract eyeballs.

“I think these are games where eyeballs from across many different regions start to tune in. That, to me, takes a little bit of the regionalization out of the game and I think it adds some more national interest and that can only help sell the sport from a TV perspective which I think is really important for college hockey.”

Teams to watch

With the season having just begun, Starman shared his thoughts on five teams fans should keep an eye on. Some of these may be contenders for the national championship, while others just have interesting storylines to follow.

Boston College: “BC will never be bad. They’re always going to be entertaining, they’re always going to be fun. I don’t think they get enough credit for how well they can defend and do the little things. I also think that they are one of those teams that forces other teams to play with skill.”

Boston University: “They’ve got a lot of skill. Well-coached, a lot of skill. I think Charlie McAvoy is going to take the next step towards being a long-time NHL defenseman. I think they’re a fun watch.”

Michigan: “Michigan is interesting. They always are. They lose the big line, but they have a unique ability to rebuild quick. It’s Red Berenson’s last season, so I think they’re definitely a team to keep an eye on as Red starts to step aside and we see who replaces him. What that man’s done for college hockey can’t be measured. I think Michigan is always one of those teams that’s an interesting follow.”

North Dakota: “I don’t think they are necessarily defending a national championship, I think they just look to put the pieces in place to try to win another one. Their philosophy of ‘next man up’ is really neat. Holes wind up in the lineup and they seem to be able to fill them pretty well from within. They’re kind of an interesting case study on team management and real good team dynamic.

“If you had three hours, it wouldn’t be enough time for me to say enough good things about (sophomore forward Brock Boeser). There’s your hockey player, right there. He can do a little bit of everything. He’s Clark Gillies to me. He’s strong, he’s fast, he can score, he can be physical, he can play in his own end, he can go under or over the radar, you can plug him wherever you need him. I really like the kid.”

Providence: “Providence College is one of those teams that is so well-coached that how could you not just be intrigued? Ever since Nate Leaman went there, Providence College is a team I like to follow.”

‘…making the product better’

Another noteworthy topic during the offseason was some of the moves made within the Atlantic Hockey Association. The conference announced that it will allow its teams to provide 18 scholarships, the full amount permitted by the NCAA. This move should help bring what is widely considered weakest conference to a competitive caliber closer to the others.

There are also a number of teams moving to upgraded facilities. Bentley is building a new arena on campus. Sacred Heart and American International are both playing in AHL facilities starting this season, which should make these programs more attractive to recruits.

“I think it’s huge,” Starman said. “The fact that we’re now unified across the board in terms of scholarships. Now it gives them more of a bargaining chip when they’re trying to attract some high-end kids.”

More scholarships will create opportunities to offer more of these recruits a full ride along with more playing time as freshmen than they may receive at a bigger school. This could help with their development as a player.

“I think it really helps,” Starman added.  “It creates a whole new level of adding depth to lineups and making the product better.”

The American Development Model

Starman’s coaching experience did not end with his transition from the CHL benches to the CSTV booth. He eventually got involved with USA Hockey’s coaching education program and is a proponent of the American Development Model.

The model stresses that kids should be playing hockey to have fun. Winning and losing should not be emphasized. This approach helps kids grow to love the game and want to continue playing and improving.

“With what we’re doing with the American Development Model and what we’re doing with long-term athlete development,” Starman said, “we have been really successful as far as getting a lot of our youth hockey coaches on board.

“We’ve steered a lot of these guys away from this idiot mentality that ‘we have to win every game,’ and into a mentality that practice time is really important, and teaching skills is really important. Getting kids to understand the fundamentals of the game trump some of the other aspects of the game especially at the young development levels.”

The concepts that comprise the ADM are not new. They were compiled from knowledgeable people throughout the game over a number of years. However, in the years since the ADM was put into place and made available to youth hockey coaches throughout the country, the implementation of these principles has been more concrete.

“What we’re seeing is more utilization of all of your coaches in practice,” he said. “You’re seeing a better coach-to-player ratio and you are seeing much more emphasis on skill than anything else.”

‘These kids learn by doing’

In the past, Starman recalled watching Pee Wee-level practices where coaches would have most of the team standing around watching other kids run through drills. There was a belief that kids could learn by watching. The ADM aims to remove that believe from hockey practices at the development level.

This concept goes in line with what many high-level coaches believe: That hockey players learn the game by playing it. One of these coaches is Jeff Jackson of Notre Dame, who helped create the U.S. National Team Development Program, which has produced Patrick Kane, James van Riemsdyk and Cam Fowler.

“These kids learn by doing,” Starman said. “They learn by trial and error. They learn through some unstructured chaos how to figure things out and they learn by repetition.”

Another aspect that has come into play more often with the implementation of the ADM is the usage of small-area drills during practice. Starman is a big believer that these drills are key to developing young players, as they force players to make many a number of quick decisions in a short amount of time.

They also allow goalies to be more involved in practice. At lower levels, goalies often would not get tested nearly enough in 5-on-5 play. Small-area games force the goalie to make decisions much more often, which helps them significantly in the long run.

“I think when you put kids into small areas a couple things happen,” he explained. “One: It heightens their sense of awareness. Two: It heightens their sense of time and space. I’m a big believer that I’d rather take a kid and have his small-area game start to get bigger than put him out in that big area and have him figure out how to get smaller because if you can work in those tight areas you can figure out what to do with time and space.”

As a coach of Tier II Pee Wees in Long Beach, N.Y., Starman has seen the impact of these drills firsthand. He has noticed players new to the Pee Wee level that are much better at playing in the area around the net because they are used to playing in small areas during practice.

Another crucial piece in the implementation of the ADM has been the USA Hockey Mobile Coach App. As a coach, Starman is constantly using the app before, during and after practice. The app provides numerous videos of drills that coaches can use during their practices, as well as complete practice plans.

This helps coaches reinforce important aspects of drills that they may not be familiar with. Starman has also found it useful to record his team’s drills with his phone to provide instant feedback to his team. He shows them how they did the drill, and then shows the video of how it’s supposed to be done.

“In this generation where we are constantly looking for information using technology, to me this sums it up in a really good way,” he said. “You’ve got everything you would need in the dressing room at your fingertips. You can even utilize it on the ice. I love the thing. It might be the best thing USA Hockey has put out from a technological standpoint.”

‘…generation of better-skilled players….’

In the recent World Cup of Hockey, Team North America showcased some of the NHL’s best young talent. The likes of Gaudreau, Eichel, Auston Matthews and Shayne Gostisbehere are among the young Americans who appear to be on their way to stardom.

Starman thinks the ADM has a lot to do with their early success. This has not only influenced the game today, but will continue to do so as the number of players that developed under this model increases.

“We’re creating this generation of better-skilled players and more of them,” he offered. “You’re going to see more Johnny Gaudreaus and you’re going to see more Gostisbeheres. You’re going to see this generation of defensemen that can rush the puck and make plays and hold on to it. We’re emphasizing skating, we’re emphasizing puck possession.

“You’re seeing this wave of small and big players that are really skilled, can do a lot with the puck and can skate extremely well. I think that young-guns team, the Americans that were on that team and even the Canadians, that to me will look a whole lot more like the future than anything else.”