Does anyone know South Dakota native Walker Duehr's story regarding how he made it as a pro hockey player?

[WarriorofTime]

I love learning about hockey players that come from non-traditionally producing hockey regions. Hockey is a very regimented sport where you have to go from AAA -> Juniors -> College/Pros -> NHL.

Given how sparsely populated South Dakota is, and what I would assume to be an overall lack of hockey infrastructure, I am shocked that a player from South Dakota was able to make it to the NHL. Did he have to travel 10+ hours in order to play competitive AAA hockey? I'm shocked a guy from there could even make it to the USHL, let alone play actual NHL games. He has now played 11 games with the Calgary Flames after playing most of the season in the AHL.

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[McGarnagle]

I went to wikipedia and google maps to check, and his first Junior team in the USHL was in Sioux City, IA, which is not even an hour and a half from his birthplace of Sioux Falls, SD. Doesn't seem that bad to me. Also, Sioux Falls is right near the Minnesota border, so I'm sure they cross over and played in tournaments and travel games in Western MN too.

 

[Siludin]

Nobody is ever going to be surprised by an American making the NHL, even if they are from the middle of the Navada desert; the USA has some of the best sports infrastructure in the world.
This would be more impressive if the player was from Algeria or something.

 

[Old Boys Club]

He walked it and he did it.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Nobody is ever going to be surprised by an American making the NHL, even if they are from the middle of the Navada desert; the USA has some of the best sports infrastructure in the world.
This would be more impressive if the player was from Algeria or something.

There are numerous (rural) places where making the NHL is a virtual impossibility. If there is not a hockey rink within 3 hours of your hometown, you obviously will not make the NHL. Even if there is, there needs to be a competitive hockey program, or else the player will need to move (like Tyler Myers family packing up and leaving their Texas home for Canada when Tyler was around 10 years old in order to better his chances of playing pro hockey, it obviously worked out for them).

 

[lowol]

Looking at his EliteProspects profile, he played a couple games in Kansas at 14, a full season in Las Vegas at 15 and a full season in Chicago at 16, so he did have to travel around to make it into decent programs.

I am amazed at his trajectory afterwards as well. 4 USHL teams in 3 years (!), 4 years in NCAA Div I at Minnesota State, and a surprisingly fast leap to a cup of tea in the NHL where he's now scored 3 times in 11 games!

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

As someone who lives in a town of 700 people in the middle of Saskatchewan (a town that has produced 4 NHL players in my lifetime) and within driving distance of South Dakota...I'm going to guess the OP doesn't understand rural areas at all.

 

[kaiser matias]

There are numerous (rural) places where making the NHL is a virtual impossibility. If there is not a hockey rink within 3 hours of your hometown, you obviously will not make the NHL. Even if there is, there needs to be a competitive hockey program, or else the player will need to move (like Tyler Myers family packing up and leaving their Texas home for Canada when Tyler was around 10 years old in order to better his chances of playing pro hockey, it obviously worked out for them).

That was more work-related for his father, but it certainly made a big impact: while Myers could have continued playing in Houston, he obviously had a lot more opportunity in Calgary.

 

[WarriorofTime]

As someone who lives in a town of 700 people in the middle of Saskatchewan (a town that has produced 4 NHL players in my lifetime) and within driving distance of South Dakota...I'm going to guess the OP doesn't understand rural areas at all.

He is the first South Dakota player ever to make the nhl so it’s not act like it happens everyday…

 

[Asinine]

He is the first South Dakota player ever to make the nhl so it’s not act like it happens everyday…

He was born there. His family clearly had the means to put him in the right leagues for him to succeed. It's not like he developed in South Dakota public skates and then jumped into the NHL.

You'd be surprised how far some kids even in AAA hotspots like Ontario are travelling to be on competitive teams.

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

He is the first South Dakota player ever to make the nhl so it’s not act like it happens everyday…

No, but rural areas are funny when it comes to supporting their own. If he showed any kind of promise, people would have been lining up to make sure it got developed.

 

[WarriorofTime]

He was born there. His family clearly had the means to put him in the right leagues for him to succeed. It's not like he developed in South Dakota public skates and then jumped into the NHL.

You'd be surprised how far some kids even in AAA hotspots like Ontario are travelling to be on competitive teams.

Yep, always curious about these kind of stories. The family obviously had to make tremendous sacrifices for their son's future, pretty cool story.

 

[Asinine]

Yep, always curious about these kind of stories. The family obviously had to make tremendous sacrifices for their son's future, pretty cool story.

I find it cooler that he really didn't have gaudy stats in pretty much any league he played in and still made it to the show.

Just goes to show that development isn't linear.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I love learning about hockey players that come from non-traditionally producing hockey regions. Hockey is a very regimented sport where you have to go from AAA -> Juniors -> College/Pros -> NHL.

Given how sparsely populated South Dakota is, and what I would assume to be an overall lack of hockey infrastructure, I am shocked that a player from South Dakota was able to make it to the NHL. Did he have to travel 10+ hours in order to play competitive AAA hockey? I'm shocked a guy from there could even make it to the USHL, let alone play actual NHL games. He has now played 11 games with the Calgary Flames after playing most of the season in the AHL.

He's right on the border of MN in Sioux falls(which is a decent sized city), where there is plenty of hockey infrastructure. Even if SW MN is the lowest end of hockey intensity in the state, almost every town has an association or coop with other small towns.

He probably had talent that showd early, and his parents could afford to ship him to AAA programs across the country.