There were barely any Americans in the NHL at that point,...

There were barely any Americans in the NHL at that point, and they only had the six teams - so there wasn't much of an opportunity there. By the time the WHL came along, I was a little too old to be trying to make it in pro hockey - but that old New England League was some great hockey. Those rinks used to be packed every night, and played in tournaments all over the Eastern United States and Canada.