Leo’s Hockey Report: Professional hockey representation growing in Prince Edward Island

Brad Richards in 2015 when he brought the Stanley Cup back to his hometown of Murray Harbour. (Credit: Norma Lee McLeod/CBC News)

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is growing its representation in professional hockey. 

An increasing number of athletes from the island have found themselves playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) or other large-scale hockey events.  

PEI has had 35 total NHLers come through the province.  

Patrick “Paddy” Nolan was the first player from the island to play in the NHL. He played two games during the 1921-22 season for the Toronto St. Pats. 

The St. Pats are now known as the Maple Leafs.  

Nolan failed to register a point in his career. However, his influence spread to other island-born hockey athletes. 

Players like Bill and Bob MacMillan, Gerard Gallant and Al MacAdam had long careers in the NHL, spanning the late 1970s and early ‘80s.  

Gallant and MacAdam later went on to find success behind the bench.  

Brad Richards later helped put the island on the hockey map. 

He played during the 2000s and early 2010s and retired from professional hockey in 2016. At the same time, he left behind a legacy of success.  

Richards is a one-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner. He collected the award in 2004 when the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup final, the same year he took home the Lady Byng trophy. 

The Lady Byng is given to the most sportsmanlike player in the league.   

Richards won his second cup in 2015, this time with the Chicago Blackhawks. He even brought the hardware to his home community of Murray Harbour.  

Adam McQuaid and Brandon Gormley also found themselves in the league at the same time as Richards.  

“I don’t believe you get lucky over 30 years,” said Richards when he was inducted into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame. 

“I got lucky once – being born into a family and community that gave me all my values that I still hold and, I think, put me on a path that you can kind of overcome everything. After that, you don’t get lucky, you have that in you and you just keep going.” 

Fast forward almost 10 years since Richards’ departure. In today’s NHL, talented players like Noah Dobson and Ross Johnson are working to fill the void.  

Dobson began his career with the New York Islanders.

During his time on Long Island, Dobson turned himself into a top-line defenseman. He was traded in the offseason to the Montreal Canadians for Emil Heineman and a pair of first-round draft picks. 

Johnson is the pride of Cardigan, a town in Eastern PEI.  

Travis McIsaac is the Technical Director at Hockey PEI. He has been in the position for just over a year, starting his tenure with the organization in May 2024.  

McIsaac thinks it is “great” to see the growth of islanders in the NHL.

“Brad Richards is a key one … And now, we're in the current time where we have Noah Dobson, Jordan Spence, Ross Johnson, who have played games. And then five years from now, we're probably talking about a different cohort of guys that are coming up,” he said.  

Strides have also been made around women’s hockey on the island. 

Abby Hustler, who hails from the Western part of the island, was drafted to the Minnesota Frost in last summer's PWHL draft. 

Hustler became the first female islander to be drafted to the league. 

“If you can turn on a TV and see Noah Dobson playing 25 minutes, why can't a player from PEI do the same?” she said.  

McIsaac is a former hockey player. The Uigg native played four years in the Quebec Maritimes Junior League (QMJHL), captaining the now-defunct PEI Rocket in his final season. He later went on to play university hockey. 

Given his time as a player, he feels a sense of pride seeing graduates of Hockey PEI’s high development program, playing professional hockey or attending NHL development camps.  

“I think we're all proud of them for having done that, but it also creates that pipeline where a younger player coming up and seeing some of these professional guys, how they go about their business, how they train and conduct themselves. And they can learn from them and hopefully improve by getting around them,” said McIsaac. “And they become the next generation of island hockey stars.”  

A handful of players are at training camps for the NHL.

Over the next few weeks, those players will try to show coaches and general managers that they have what it takes to remain with the big club.  

Those players include Cam Squires, Dawson Sharkey and Luke Coughlin.  All three played in the QMJHL last season.  

“I hope it continues to grow or increase … I think it'll probably increase because now there's maybe more exposure for players in PEI or in the maritime region than there was 20, 25 years ago. And you might have been a bit of a hidden gem if you played out here,” said McIsaac on whether NHL representation on the island will continue to grow.  

“Now, players have the opportunities to go to events or showcases where they're heavily scouted. So, I think the exposure level for players is so much higher. Hopefully that leads to more players from [PEI] moving all the way up.”