Vinny Smith lives by the belief that the better the human being, the better the hockey player.
It’s a philosophy that the head coach has preached to his Long Island Gulls 16U squad, and he has seen outstanding results because of it. As the reigning 16U USA Hockey national champions, Smith has brought the program from barely fielding a team just a few years ago to now dominating the Tier 1 competition.
“When you win something like that [national championship], there are so many things that come out of it. I think probably the most prevalent one is just the belief aspect,” Smith said.
“Most of the guys that come to our program want to be part of the development for them to get to the next level. I think when they get here, they realize you’re part of a cultured program, not just your team.”
The 16U Gulls, who also won the New York SAHA 2023 state championship, have become a Long Island powerhouse that primes young talent for the next level whether that be juniors, college or, hopefully, the NHL.
As a New York native, Smith and a group of his homegrown players take great pride in building an environment where guys enter as mites and stay until 16U. Previously, most Long Island kids left once they reached the 13, 14 age group, but the narrative has shifted, fueled by the Gulls’ recent success.
Two of this year’s team’s top forwards, Jesse Orlowsky and Ethan Wyttenbach, have come up through the Gulls system and their trust in the process paid off — Orlowsky is committed to playing collegiate hockey at Harvard and Wyttenbach at Quinnipiac.
“Those two guys have been Gulls since they were babies,” Smith said. “There’s a ton of pride in that. I believe the Gulls culture has to be holistic, we have to know who played in our program before us and we want to be a homegrown organization.”
Orlowsky has all the makings of a future NHL player according to his coach. He’s a power forward with a nose for the net and solid size standing at 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds. Now, Orlowsky is focused on rounding out his game.
“Just working on being way better of a systematic player. Learning how to play a higher-level hockey role,” Orlowsky said. “I’ve always kind of cheated the game or stuff like that and they’ve taught me to play the right way and do the right things to get to the next level.”
Wyttenbach shares a lot of the same qualities as his teammate. The sharpshooting winger leads with his offensive mind and has been playing more of a 200-foot game this season as he prepares to make a run for a spot on the USHL's Chicago Steel – who drafted him in the fifth round of this year's USHL Phase 1 Draft – next year.
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While Wyttenbach has seen tangible development on the ice, he also credits the Gulls’ academy-style program for the off-ice lessons and relationships that make the squad stronger down the stretch.
The 16U Gulls’ schedule consists of online school, practice, recovery, team activities and culture training every day.
“It’s a lot more than what other teams do and obviously it’s hard, but it sets you up for the future,” Wyttenbach said. “Being together, when we get to states and nationals at the end of the year, we’re so close we know each other in and out. A lot of other teams don’t really do that.”
For Smith, being a Gull extends further than having success on the scoreboard – he is dedicated to producing well-rounded people as well as hockey players.
“We do culture every day,” Smith said. “We have 45 minutes where all those players who are part of that skill development academy, we’re talking about things that are relevant. The human stuff. The stuff that motivates you, inspires you, things that you’ve been through.”
Community building is a priority, but it isn’t the only benefit the Gulls’ system provides. Smith emphasized the importance of ample stretching and recovery time, learning about nutrition and executing meal plans, as well as relieving the pressure of falling behind in school without being physically present in the classroom.
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“It’s a grind and you’ve got to love it or it’s not worth it,” Orlowsky said.
The Gulls are traveling in and around New England on weekend to get their players in front of college coaches and NHL scouts and battle against top competition. They’ve earned quite the reputation by putting their heads down and working until the group was taken seriously – and they now have the hardware to prove it.
“I think we are starting to hit our stride right now and play the full team game,” Wyttenbach said. “All the Long Island Gulls teams for the past while, they’re all very skilled. We score a lot of goals.”
Orlowsky echoed that sentiment, committed to carrying on the high-compete legacy and standards that players before them have set.
“I feel like there is that little click with other teams knowing that they’re going to play us, just because of our past teams,” he said. “We want them to know that we are ready to play and we’re going to compete against them as hard they’re going to compete against us.”
The 16U Gulls will continue their quest to defend the state and national title this season all while holding true to the values that have pushed their program to be noticed.
“We don’t run from our deficiencies and we don’t run from working on the human being,” Smith said. “It’s the practice of working on yourself. Better people are better players.”
