By TYLER DONOHUE
Sports Writer
For many teenagers, long-term plans consist of simply a standard week's worth of schoolwork and a solid Saturday night agenda. Foresight isn’t often a strong suit of the average adolescent.
Stephen East’s expectations are far from average.
The 16-year-old Linwood native has laid out a blueprint for the next five years of his life. It's a span in which he hopes to hone the skill set he needs in order to have any chance at turning his daydream into a day job.
The St. Augustine Prep junior is on a journey that few of his peers will ever attempt. East is in the early stages of the pursuit of a career as a professional athlete.
You can call it ambition or even an objective. Just be aware, the future East envisions doesn’t include many goals.
In fact, he hopes to avoid goals altogether.
Although East is still in the early steps down a road he hopes leads to a role as a goaltender in the National Hockey League, it's an undertaking he's fully invested in.
That determination has led the amateur goalie to East Rutherford three days a week during the past two years for practice with the New Jersey Rockets of the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League. East and his father, Walter, spend approximately 12 hours in the car each week, traveling lengthy stretches of the turnpike and parkway to reach the Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils and host of Rockets' training sessions.
The cost of gas hasn’t slowed them down; although you'll have to ask Walter whether driving alongside the notoriously ill-mannered drivers of northern New Jersey is a price worth paying. In his second season with the Rockets, East had emerged as an All-Star in the Tier 3, Junior B league and continues to command the attention of coaches at the higher levels of hockey.
He’s part of a roster that includes predominately North Jersey and New York residents. Most of them share a similar dream with East, although they aren’t interested in stopping speeding pucks between the pipes day after day.
When you scan the sports spectrum, there are few positions that immediately stand out as entirely unique. Pitchers in baseball, quarterbacks in football and goalkeepers come to mind.
Though goalies can be found in multiple sports, such as soccer and field hockey, it’s hard to compare anything to the role of an ice hockey goaltender. Throw in factors including ice skates, 90 mile-per-hour slapshots and approximately 40 pounds of protective padding.
Hockey goalies are a rare breed indeed.
“We’re faced with so much pressure,” East explained. “Other players on the ice can have a bad shift, go to the bench, then come out and have a great shift next time to make up for it. A lot of times, if a goalie gives up one goal it can mean the difference between winning and losing for the team.”
Considering the fact that St. Augustine is one of the few South Jersey schools that fields an ice hockey team, it may seem silly for East to spend half of his week playing the sport hours north of the school. However, the Rockets do not allow team members to participate in their high school programs, and an opportunity to play within the professional hockey pipeline is too much for him to pass up.
“I’m giving myself a few years after high school graduation to concentrate on getting recruited to a college hockey program,” East said. “The average age of a freshman goalie is about 21 years old, so when I get to 20 or 21, we’ll see where I am and I’ll make a decision about the future.”
East will reassess things at that point, but until then he has work to do.
In the United States, there are three tiers of junior hockey. Tier 3 includes Junior A and B, Tier 2 is the North American Hockey League and Tier 1 is the United States Hockey League.
Now in his second year as a Junior B MJHL player, East was the top goalkeeper chosen by league coaches for the Jan. 29 All-Star game in Walpole, Mass.
“I was pretty shocked,” East admitted. “There are over 50 goalies in the league so it was pretty mind-blowing to get the news.”
He stopped 23 of 25 shots in the All-Star Game for Team North, combining with fellow goalie Tyler Tracy of Naples, Fl., to shut down Team South in a 7-3 victory.
Plenty of coaches and scouts were on hand to watch, a good sign for East as he prepares to make a leap up to the next wrung of the national hockey ladder. His goal is to play at either the Junior A level or in the NAHL next season, ultimately leading him to a Division-1 athletic scholarship.
There is another option north of the border, in the Ontario Hockey League of Canada. However, that move would designate him ineligible for collegiate hockey since it is a professional league.
“There are definitely choices to make and they’re all a little different,” East said. “The good thing is that I do have eyes on me during these games.”
According to Walter, his son has received interest from the Topeka Roadrunners and Wichita Falls Wildcats of the NAHL, along with the Youngstown Phantoms and Omaha Lancers of the USHL. The scouting process can be lengthy, since teams want to be sure they’re getting a fairly polished goalie.
East views his technique and footwork as his strongest assets, along with instincts. His maturity is undeniable when you realize that he is willing to leave home and travel across the country for the career he aspires for, while some of his peers struggle to just make their beds each morning.
“(We’ve) been called crazy for the travel, time and money invested into his passion to play hockey,” Walter stated. “We have two rules; good grades and 110 percent on and off the ice.”
Stephen maintains an A average academically and was just nominated for the National Honor Society. Plenty of college options will be available, if East eventually chooses to go that route.
But for now, he is fully focused on chasing down a dream, one kick save at a time.
“I’m committed to this and thankfully I have my parents support,” East said. “Being recruited as a goalie is usually a pretty long process but I can only worry about what I can control.”
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