Some hockey players bristle at the label of coach’s son. It can carry with it as many negative connotations as positive. Whispers of nepotism often float in the air for such players. For Scott Pooley, though, those should long have been quieted. He has carved his path chiefly on his own, and it has now led him to Finland.
Pooley began his hockey journey in Providence while his father, Paul, was coaching the Providence College Friars. Scott found some early success.
“I started playing with Edgewood,” he said. “We actually had a really good team. Our Mite A year we went undefeated, 26-0 or something, won state. That’s a memory I’ll always have.”
He continued thriving in the New England area until his father took a job at Notre Dame. This took him up to those crucial teenaged years. He soon would find himself playing for the esteemed Chicago Mission. Yet, without gaudy numbers, his desire to play at a higher level required more seasoning. He was a quick cut at a USHL camp. Only one coach, Gord Thibodeau, showed much interest. Scott packed his bags for upper Alberta, intending to validate Thibodeau’s faith.
The next season, Scott returned to USHL camps with some renewed confidence and optimism.
“It was my goal to get to the USHL that second year,” he noted. “I thought I had a really good camp (in Omaha). They actually called me in first. Fifty kids sitting in the hallway, and I’m at the back. I had to walk past all these kids. They ended up telling me they liked me, but they were going to cut me. Less than 36 hours later I was in Muskegon for their camp. Again, (I) did really well, but got cut.”
Fortunately, Fort McMurray was willing to take him back for another year. Just as Scott was preparing to start his second season in the AJHL, Muskegon reached back out to him. “It was one of the hardest conversations I ever had to have,” Scott reflected. “Going into the coaches’ office of the team that brought you in and gave you a chance and telling them you’re leaving for the USHL. I was terrified.”
Scott had extra motivation to put together a strong year in the USHL. His 16 goals were tied for second on the team. He finally had put himself on the radar. However, it wasn’t his father who came calling, finally hoping to coach his son at Notre Dame. It wasn’t Ohio State, hoping that Scott might play up to even half of his father’s legacy (Paul Pooley has his number in the rafters and is the Buckeyes’ all-time leading scorer). Instead, it was just a small school in Worcester, Mass., that was intrigued by Scott’s potential.
While his dad might not have been able to get him a chance at a big-time school, his hockey ties did allow for Scott to train with some elite talent in the offseasons. So when Scott stepped on Holy Cross’ campus as a freshman, he was confident he could make an immediate impact. He did just that by scoring 10 goals, second only to TJ Moore. Of course, Scott also had a good advisor.
“I definitely think we had good conversations,” he said of picking his father’s brain. “What my game could be, and where I could trend. We didn’t talk too many X’s and O’s, obviously. The biggest thing, he was just preaching about the blue lines, chip it out, chip it in. The little details like that, it was nice just to have that kind of instilled going in rather than learning the hard way.”
With 64 career points entering his senior season, Scott strove to be the newest member of the school’s 100-point club. It turned out to be simultaneously one of Scott’s best and worst years. In terms of productivity, it was his best. He notched 34 points (unfortunately, two shy of his 100-point target) as well as a career-high 18 goals. He even got some early chatter for the Hobey Baker.
Yet, Scott candidly admitted, that might also have been where his season went a bit astray.
“I had a really good first half. The second half came, and I kind of fell off a bit. The Hobey Baker fan vote came out. I knew I wasn’t winning the Hobey Baker, (but) people made such a big deal out of it.”
His coach, David Berard, who had coached with Paul and has known Scott his whole life, tried to make sure Scott stuck to those little details.
“I was pretty hard on him,” Berard said. “Because of our relationship, I felt like I could coach him a little bit harder. He handled it really well. We were just trying to have him focus on the process of scoring versus the result of scoring. I think when you’re used to scoring a lot and you don’t, you cheat the game a little bit. You’re looking for the breakaway that’s going to break you out of it, and a lot of times you’ve got to do the opposite. You’ve got to get gritty, and you’ve got to get dirty, and you’ve got to get to the net. He didn’t score goals, but he contributed in other ways because he played that way.”
Scott would soon learn that such struggles didn’t go unnoticed in the hockey world.
“When I signed in Toronto, that was one of the first questions one of the development coaches asked. ‘What happened that second half?’ It really made me think about it. I let the pressure get to me. I let it consume me a bit rather than just use it or just ignore it. I think that was a good test for me both mentally and as a hockey player. It definitely really taught me to kind of stay in the moment.”
With longer seasons at the professional level, Scott was going to need to ride the waves of both hot and cold streaks.
It was more flow than ebb in his rookie season with Newfoundland of the ECHL. Again, he was quick to establish his value. He paced the team with 31 goals. He added nine more in the playoffs as Newfoundland captured the Kelly Cup. In game two of the finals, Scott potted both goals in a 2-1 overtime win. “It was definitely an exciting goal. It was a huge win for us going to Toledo, which is an incredible environment and an extremely difficult environment to play in.
Still, he downplayed his game-winner. “I got a lucky bounce.”
Hockey minds like Berard don’t see it that way. “(He) had a really good knack for the net, put himself in scoring positions. That’s a skill. If it was that easy, everyone would do it. He’s a natural goal scorer.”
The next two seasons would run a little less smoothly for Scott. In 2019-20, he split time between the ECHL and AHL. He was producing at both levels, but a concussion hindered his progress. Last season, of course, COVID changed the dynamics. Scott passed on an offer from Germany to give the AHL one more ardent shot. He was a mainstay in the lineup, but he couldn’t find the scoresheet as much as he had hoped. He approached this season leaning toward giving the AHL one more chance.
However, when Lukko of the Finnish Liiga came in with an intriguing offer, Scott reconsidered. He leaned on some former teammates (Josh Kestner) and even some former adversaries (Justin Danforth, Daniel Audette) to see what may lie in store across the pond.
“Everyone I talked to said it’s a good place to be in this league.”
As Scott pondered his future, he reflected on his past. He thought about the struggles and journeys that led him to Holy Cross and, ultimately, the Maple Leafs system. He decided, “This is probably the place I’m meant to be next on the path to where I want to be.”
It seems like it is where he should be. His toughest adjustment so far appears to have been training camp. “(There is) way more running. Oh, my goodness,” he laughed. “It makes sense. It’s a bigger sheet. It’s a lot more skating.”
As defending champions in Finland, Lukko earned a bid to participate in the Europeanwide Champions Hockey League. Competitors vie for the crown of the continent’s best. Having already commenced, it has been a chance for Scott to quickly acclimate to the pace and assess where his game is at.
After all, the bar will not be set low in Rauma, Lukko’s home base.
“I don’t want to put expectations on myself, numerically,” Scott said. “I made that mistake my senior year. Obviously, I’m new to the group. I just want to really get comfortable playing the style of play and do what I can to help the team win. Our goaltending’s exceptional from what I’ve seen. We definitely think we have a really good group and have the ability to (win) again.”
Of course, Scott will not be looking much beyond his next game. Still, he is aware of how guys like Danforth have used a strong season in Finland to springboard into the next step of their careers. As he begins his European adventure, he hopes it is still a long road that lies ahead.
“I think there’s definitely a path, if you have success, to get to the KHL, which I think is the goal over here. You can see what can be and what the possibilities are. At the same time, you can’t get too far ahead of yourself. You’ve got to … really earn that."
This article appeared in the print edition of the September/October 2021 New England Hockey Journal magazine.
