Hockey is not the most popular sport in Conway, N.H., and it might never be considering the town is surrounded by several ski resorts. Ever since Ham Arena opened its doors, though, the Mount Washington Valley ski town has developed a growing case of hockey fever.
Darrell Umlah helped spark the hockey epidemic in town. Fueled by his wish to see his son skate at an indoor arena in town instead of the outdoor rink at Schouler Park, Umlah began his mission to create Ham Arena in 1996. Through Umlah’s efforts and funds raised solely from private donations, the rink opened in December 1998.
"Getting that back in ’98, being a state-of-the-art facility — one of the nicest arenas in the state — certainly drives kids toward trying hockey," said Mike Lane, who coaches the Kennett High School boys hockey team.
Kennett, which is located in Conway, is the lone public high school in the Mount Washington Valley and serves the towns of Conway, Albany, Bartlett, Chatham, Eaton, Freedom, Hart’s Location, Jackson, Madison and Tamworth.
Umlah began raising funds to build Ham Arena in 1996 and initially was met with skepticism from local businesses, he said. When the late Thaddeus Thorne, an avid hockey player and thenpresident of Attitash Ski Area, bought in to the project, Umlah said "an awful lot of doors began to open."
After Thorne came on board, his good friend and one of Attitash’s board members, Sandy McCulloch, soon joined. McCulloch, a businessman from Rhode Island who vacationed in Conway with his wife, Dotty, was the only person who gave Umlah a financial commitment up front.
"I kind of drove the bus but a lot of people were going along for the ride," Umlah said.
When he wasn’t raising funds to create Ham Arena, Umlah was trying to figure out what the building would look like. After touring a number of rinks around New England, he found inspiration after visiting the Cairns Arena in South Burlington, Vt.
"I tell people I spent about a year in the R&D stages," Umlah said. "It wasn’t research and development. It was rip off and duplicate. I tried to find the right rink and I found it in South Burlington, Vermont. … I found it and I knew it was the one to build."
When Ham Arena finally opened, Umlah, who moved to the Mount Washington Valley in 1979, felt proud. He also was as nervous as he could be.
"I went and built something and was concerned for it to be successful," Umlah said.
Like Umlah’s son, Lane spent his younger years playing hockey outdoors or taking the nearly hourlong drive to Wolfeboro, N.H., to skate at Pop Whalen Ice Arena.
Lane never thought he would get to play high school hockey for Kennett before Ham Arena opened during his junior year. Boys hockey became an official sport at Kennett during the 1999-2000 school year. Lane was a member of the program’s inaugural club season that year.
"It’s something I’ll never forget," Lane said. "And to come full circle and coach is certainly pretty exciting."
Lane has coached Kennett each of the past 10 seasons, leading the Eagles to all four of their NHIAA Division 3 state championships. Since Kennett joined the varsity ranks during the 2001-02 school year, it has played in eight state championship games. The Eagles have reached the semifinals nine out of the past 10 seasons under Lane.
Kennett earned its most recent title this past season, defeating fellow North Country program Berlin/Gorham, 4-0, in the Division 3 championship game at Southern New Hampshire University Arena in Manchester, N.H.
When the Eagles’ bus rolled into Conway with the title, it was met by local firefighters and police officers. Ricky Gaudreau, who played with Lane during Kennett’s inaugural club season and is now a Conway police officer, helped escort the team into town.
The Eagles were greeted with a parade as their bus made its way through town and eventually stopped at Ham Arena, where the team held a celebratory party.
"People treat the kids really well and make a big deal of it and it is a big deal," said Lane, who also plays for Frechette Tire in the town’s men’s league.
Kennett’s string of success in recent years has led to higher expectations for the team from the community. When the Eagles did not reach the state final in 2013 after five consecutive appearanc es, Lane said people in town asked him what was going on.
Seeing Kennett compete for the state crown so often in recent years has had a positive impact on the town’s youth hockey participation numbers, according to Dave Woodbury.
Woodbury, who moved to Conway in 2005, succeeded Umlah as general manager of Ham Arena this past January. Woodbury also coached in the Mount Washington Valley Youth Hockey program for 12 years before taking the position.
When Woodbury’s son, Miles, now a rising sophomore at Kennett, was in the learn-to-skate program, there were 15-20 kids enrolled, he said. Woodbury, who grew up in Natick, Mass., said toward the end of his time coaching, there were 40-50 kids in the learn hockey program.
Youth hockey’s growth in enrollment has not been limited to just boys, either. When Woodbury was coaching his son’s Mites team, there were no girls on the team’s roster. The Pee Wee team had three girls on the roster this past year and there are between 6-8 girls at the Mites and Squirts levels, Woodbury said.
The uptick in girls interest in hockey can be partially attributed to Kennett.
Kate McPherson, who graduated from Kennett in 2016, became the first female to play for the Eagles when she joined the team her sophomore year. Leah Canavari, who graduated this past school year, became the first female to win a state title with Kennett last season.
"I’ve seen a bunch of girls in like Mites and Squirts and even Pee Wees. They play now because I play," McPherson said in an interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader last year. "When I used to play, you could count the amount of girls on your fingers. Now there are a lot more."
The youth hockey players do not just idolize the Kennett players from afar, either. Woodbury said Kennett players have a great relationship with those in the youth hockey programs.
Youth hockey players pile into Ham Arena during Kennett home games and Kennett’s players frequent the youth hockey contests. The Eagles also have certain games where youth hockey players can skate with the varsity team afterward.
When the youth players have had the chance to skate with the Eagles in recent years, young girls flocked to McPherson and Canavari. Oftentimes the girls youth hockey players showed up for those games wearing custom-made McPherson or Canavari jerseys.
"There are girls wearing Leah Canavari shirts to high school games and holding signs for her," Woodbury said. "To see those little girls, whose chins barely reach over the boards, with their Leah Canavari signs was awesome."
Kennett’s ascension to powerhouse status in high school hockey has helped the sport’s popularity in Conway. The Eagles could not have done so without Umlah’s efforts to turn Ham Arena from a dream he had for his son into one of the best facilities in the state, however.
Ham Arena’s opening helped hockey evolve from a niche sport in the Conway community into one of the town’s favorites.
"Hockey is definitely here to stay," Umlah said. "We’re a hockey town now."
