USA Hockey Adult Hockey

Coming soon to Buffalo: one new premier facility with a first-class adult league to serve the hockey-crazy community.

In fact, there’s so much demand for ice at HarborCenter, staff members are working around the clock to try and accommodate everyone.

Construction of the two-sheeted HarborCenter was spearheaded by Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, who felt the city of Buffalo needed a top-notch facility for hockey players of all ages. That includes a robust adult league.

USA Hockey sat down with Chuck Lawless, arena manager and adult hockey league commissioner at HarborCenter.

USA Hockey: With the facility’s opening in sight, how is your adult league shaping up?

Chuck Lawless: We’re ready to go. We’ll be running an adult league every night, Monday through Sunday. We’ll have 30 teams. We had over 110 teams apply to be in our league. We started off at 24 and we expanded it to 30. I was able to get creative and work out some different times on the schedule so we could accommodate six more teams. And this is just for our fall/winter seasons. We’re looking to expand into the spring and summer.

USA Hockey: What separates your league from the rest?

Chuck Lawless: With adult leagues in Buffalo, there’s a strong presence. We believe there are about four or five different adult leagues in the area. The neat thing about our adult league is we’re going to accommodate your low-end player all the way up to your high-end player. One of the things that I’ve noticed throughout the years is that there are so many guys that played juniors and college and pro hockey that aren’t playing right now. One of the concepts that we came up with was to start a division geared toward those guys.

USA Hockey: Tell us more about that division.

Chuck Lawless: Our premier league, we have eight teams in it, which ranges from your college player all the way up to your semi-pro to former professional players. Our premier league will be one of the best in the area, but we’ll also have leagues to accommodate new players up to the amateur players. The level of competition is definitely there. For us at the HarborCenter, it’s about putting a good product on the ice. We want to accommodate everyone in the area. We’re trying to get as many guys on our ice as possible.

USA Hockey: What kind of culture are you looking to establish in your adult league?

Chuck Lawless: Our league is going to be one-of-a-kind. We have a no-fight rule. There aren’t too many – I don’t think there are any – leagues in this area that have that rule. If you get into one fight, you’re done for the year. We came up with that concept because you have to get up and go to work the next day. We want to have a fun, competitive league where guys can come and play and not have to worry about the hacking or worry about getting a black eye or losing a tooth. Our rules are set in place. We have a misconduct rule – if you get three misconducts, you’re done for the year. Three strikes, you’re out. We want people to have a place to come and have a good time and still be competitive and play the sport that they love.

USA Hockey: Are you thinking about hosting any clinics or events for adults who have never skated before?

Chuck Lawless: Yeah – absolutely. It’s something we’ve talked about. We want to offer beginner programs for adults. We want to get them out there. If a family has a father-son, mother-daughter, father-daughter, mother-son skate, we want those parents to be able to go out there. It’s something we’re kicking around. We’re just trying to figure out when is the right time for us to bring it out. For beginners and for the people that just want to get on the ice and touch up on their skills, that’s something we have had conversations with in the past. It’s on our radar.

USA Hockey: What about tournaments?

Chuck Lawless: Same thing with adult league tournaments. We’re looking at adult league tournaments for this spring. We’re also looking at 3-on-3 tournaments. There are so many possibilities and we have so many ideas for down the road. We’re looking to accommodate all. That’s what we’re shooting for.

USA Hockey: What are the benefits of partnering with USA Hockey?

Chuck Lawless: The Buffalo Sabres organization has a very longstanding relationship with USA Hockey, which extends here to HarborCenter. Because of that relationship, we’re going to have two world championships here this year – the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship as well as the International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship. The CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game takes place at First Niagara Center, which HarborCenter is connected to. That just makes this more and more of a development destination and a destination for USA Hockey events.

USA Hockey: It looks like the demand is definitely there. The challenge for you is to accommodate the passion and the numbers, right?

Chuck Lawless: Yeah – one of our biggest obstacles is that we only have two pads. For our adult league, we’re looking to grow. We’re looking to grow the game. That’s what our goal is here at the HarborCenter, to give everybody a place to play and improve.