Vision becomes reality: Concord's Chris Brown bringing NAHL prospects to NH
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Apr. 15—CHRIS BROWN has spent the past four years working toward a vision.
Brown, a Concord native and founder of the 1883 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship, pictured college hockey prospects spending some of their formative years in New Hampshire and local fans watching the next University of New Hampshire Wildcat in their backyard.
That vision led to the creation of the North American Hockey League's newest expansion franchise, the New Hampshire Mountain Kings.
The NAHL announced last month that the Mountain Kings will join the league's East Division for the 2023-24 season and skate out of Tri-Town Ice Arena in Hooksett. It is the first NAHL team to come to New Hampshire and the only Tier II junior program in the state.
Brown owns the New Hampshire Hockey Club LLC, which owns the Mountain Kings and is in the process of purchasing Tri-Town Ice Arena.
"It definitely fills a void," Brown said of the Mountain Kings. "There's a lot of Tier III junior hockey in New Hampshire, in New England. We would be the fourth Tier II hockey program in New England, so it's definitely a nice elevation to what's here ... The level of hockey is something that probably has not been seen locally."
The Mountain Kings logo, which features a moose in front of Mount Washington, was designed by Brown's daughter, Libby, a graphic design major at Savannah College of Art and Design, and their colors are navy blue and black. The inclusion of Kings in the name, Brown said, is an homage to the now-defunct Manchester Monarchs AHL and, later, ECHL franchise, which was originally owned by the Los Angeles Kings.
The Mountain Kings will be the ninth team in the East Division, joining the Danbury (Connecticut) Jr. Hat Tricks, Johnston (Pennsylvania) Tomahawks, Maine Nordiques, Maryland Black Bears, New Jersey Titans, Northeast Generals of Attleboro, Mass., Philadelphia Rebels and Rochester (New York) Jr. Americans.
The New Hampshire Hockey Club LLC will also operate the new New Hampshire Hockey Academy out of Tri-Town. The high school-aged academy players will attend Bishop Brady High School, live in dorms at NHTI in Concord and have opportunities to skate with the NAHL team.
Before the Mountain Kings play their first of 28 home games at Tri-Town starting in September, Brown said the arena will undergo cosmetic upgrades like fresh coats of paint, new boards, glass and netting, energy improvements and locker room renovations. Some of those upgrades have already begun, Brown said.
"The bones of the building are great," Brown said. "When it was built 25 years ago, it was state-of-the-art and when people walked in it was like, 'Wow, this is unbelievable.' You've got a restaurant and bar in there, you've got nice accommodations in there. I think our desire is to bring that back to where it was."
Brown, 52, said the high school teams and the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs, a Tier III junior program that plays in the United States Premier Hockey League's National Collegiate Development Conference, that skate out of Tri-Town will remain there next season.
Current Junior Monarchs General Manager Clint Edinger will serve in the same role and also be an assistant coach for the Mountain Kings. Edinger, who previously coached the Bishop Brady boys hockey team, is among the New Hampshire Hockey Club LLC ownership group and runs the Edinger's Edge training program that is based at Tri-Town.
Cam Robichaud will serve as the Mountain Kings' head coach. The Auburn, Maine, resident, played for the Junior Monarchs and coached at both Bishop Brady and within the Junior Monarchs program with Edinger.
The late Ryan Frew, a longtime Junior Monarchs coach and general manager, brought both Edinger and Robichaud into the Junior Monarchs program.
Edinger, a 46-year-old Concord resident, said his responsibilities as general manager will include recruiting, tendering players, and assisting with day-to-day operations.
Robichaud, 33, spent last season as an assistant coach for the Auburn, Maine-based Twin City Thunder, competing against Edinger's Junior Monarchs in the NCDC. Prior to joining Twin City in 2020, Robichaud was an associate head coach for the Maine Nordiques during its inaugural 2019-20 season.
"We've always stayed in close communication and have always talked about getting together coaching again," Robichaud said of Edinger. "It's almost come full circle — being a player here in Hooksett, first job in Hooksett, Bishop Brady is the school we partnered with for our academy teams."
Robichaud described himself as an intense, fair coach that likes to have fun with his players.
"I think there needs to be a healthy blend," Robichaud said. "If you're a drill sergeant or a loud, screaming coach, that can become a little tedious over a long, grueling season. At the end of the day, we all started playing this game and ended up coaching this game because it's fun and you always need to keep that near and dear to your heart — the fun that you have with this game.
"As much as it's that grind and that seriousness, you have to enjoy what you're doing."
Robichaud said he wants the Mountain Kings to be known as a highly competitive team that competes for each other and as a destination program that helps players reach the college level.
Robichaud said the team's focuses between now and the start of next NAHL season are recruiting and finishing upgrades to the arena. Edinger said some of the biggest characteristics he looks for when recruiting players are their work ethic, IQ, skill and valuing continuing their education.
The Mountain Kings will host an open pre-NAHL draft camp June 8-10 and hold their main camp in July.
"We need great leaders to build a strong culture and an atmosphere that is going to exist for a long time and for our future Mountain King players," Robichaud said. "We're only going to have one opportunity to do this right the first time and that comes from the players as much as it does the staff."
