Neil Ravin: I would say it officially hit me about two hours into the car ride home from West Chester. It didn't really hit me in the moment because it all happened so fast. Of course the championship game had to go into overtime, just to prolong how long it took to actually hand off that trophy. To see the whole thing come together, it was probably the most rewarding feeling I've had in my entire life, honestly. Every season is rewarding because you put so much work in from the scheduling process, to the season playing itself out all the way down to the last game. Just because we didn't finish the year before, it felt like it was two years in the making, and when the whole thing came together and we finally pulled it all off, and I fulfilled the promise that I made, it was quite special. 

NR: Without a doubt. Almost every single team endured at least one shut down throughout the year, because of different reasons. We had different states going by different regulations, players testing positive, close contact issues, you name it, to the point there were so many schedule changes. Around the middle of October/early November there was a part of me that thought 'we haven't even hit the halfway point this year and it's been this much of a battle, how are we going to honestly make it to March?'

We kept taking small steps forward, one of the biggest things I say about everything we do with the league is that we go for the single and not the grand slam, and last year was about hitting literally a hundred singles knowing eventually we would get where we wanted to get to. 

It would have been easier if we took one big grand slam swing to get it all done, but we eventually got to where we wanted to get to.

So to answer your question, yes I did think a few times we were in jeopardy of not pulling it off, but the fact that we never took steps back, which could have been shutting down the league for two weeks, but we took small steps forward and kept moving forward, I think is the biggest reason why we ultimately finished in the end.

NR: It's truly incredible. What's funny is that early on in the year, we were well behind the pace in terms of commitments. October and early November, I was talking to our owners telling them we're way behind at this current moment. We need to help make sure our coaches are doing what they're supposed to be doing, but then it just took off.

To do that in a COVID season without having showcases or All-Star events that help really sell our players, all the credit has to go to our coaches, because they had to do more work on their end to help get their players committed. They're the ones making the extra phone calls, and getting guys to watch them on Hockey TV, because we didn't have much attendance at games either. That number [180 NCAA Commitments] could get even higher, which then sets the bar for future years to try and come close to that; it's going to be hard to do.

NR: The level of talent was definitely higher last season, and there are a number of reasons you can point to as to why that was. Borders being shut down, influx of players throughout the country, and players like Andy Moore who were recognizing that when it's their first taste of junior hockey, and you have the talent to go maybe a step higher right away but aren't quite ready for that, and you choose to go to the EHL. I give him all the credit in the world because he was the Rookie of the Year and was also a candidate for Most Valuable Player. He was a huge reason why the Rangers won a championship and to see him get drafted into the USHL gives me flashbacks to another player by the name of Eduards Tralmaks, who played for the Boston Bandits during the 2015-16 season, which was my very first year in the league. He was the MVP in the EHL that year, spent the following season with the Chicago Steel in the USHL, helped them win a Clark Cup championship and was the leading scorer for them in the USHL playoffs; he then moved on to the University of Maine where he played Division I hockey and is now a part of the Boston Bruins organization playing in the American Hockey League. 

I always say that 9 of every 10 players in our league move on to Division II and Division III schools, but for that one in every 10 that climbs the ladder higher, the Andy Moore's of the world, the sky is the limit. To have a player like that trust our league for his first season of junior hockey, it's an awesome feeling and to see the joy and excitement on his face, first he wins the championship but second he gets drafted to the USHL, it just shows that we're doing the right thing for the players whether they're going to college or they're climbing up the USA Hockey ladder.

NR: A lot of the tasks and responsibilities that I will be completing are items I've completed in the past, but now I have a new title which I'm gracious and thankful for the owners who have given that to me. It's crazy how it all worked itself out, because of work I did this past season, from what I was told, got recognized the most by the owners. Getting them through that season and my reward was this title.

It brings a new challenge, and being in a higher role it's how do I continue to do what I've done for six years and make this league better than what it was the day before. As I said before, take the next single with each day that comes. I'm excited about the 2021-22 season and hopefully having a quote/un-quote normal year with our five showcases, our three All-Star events, our Frozen Finals, and September 17th is definitely circled on the calendar; it can't come soon enough. 

NR: I just want to make sure we put on a show for the college coaches, because for the majority of them, they haven't seen us in person since March of 2020. So when they come to see us, whether it's the showcases, the All-Star events, or the Frozen Finals, I want them to feel like they're going back to something they've missed.

On top of that, for the All-Star events in particular, the last time we had a team take on the college programs, we beat Salem State. Now the bar has been set where we can't fall back from that bar. When we face Fitchburg State, Curry College, and UMass Boston, I wouldn't say we're required to win a game but we also can't roll over, so this is that whole idea of putting on a show. We need to make sure we show up that week with the best team we can and deliver for those colleges. They put a lot of trust in us to give up an exhibition game to play the EHL, and for us we picked three schools out of a group of teams that comes forward every year and wants to be a part of that. It's on us to keep putting that best foot forward so the colleges keep coming back to our league and know that when they watch an EHL player, they're going to get a hard-working young man who has aspirations of becoming the best student-athlete that they possibly can in the future.

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