A Hockey Dream Is Coming To Marlborough From Georgia

MARLBOROUGH, MA — The first time Daniel LeCompte put on skates, he wasn't very good. His mother bought him the roller skates — the old school four-wheel type — to nurture his interest in hockey, which began when he was a young boy watching the former Atlanta Thrashers NHL team.

More than a decade later, LeCompte has developed into one of the top hockey players in Georgia — he was named the high school offensive player of the year in 2021 by the Georgia Student Hockey League — while managing autism and Tourette syndrome, and sometimes bullying from players and even coaches.

Now, LeCompte has the chance to play this upcoming season with the Marlborough-based Boston Junior Bruins, a United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) team that can offer a path to the NHL. All that stands in his way is the long drive to Massachusetts from Forsyth County, Ga., and raising the thousands of dollars it takes to join the team.

LeCompte's mother, Stacie, said her son became obsessed with hockey at about age 4. He would watch and re-watch Thrashers games to memorize all the plays. Before he put on skates, he would batter around the house with a hockey stick and ball, using the fireplace as a makeshift goal.

He was about 8-years-old the first time he skated on ice in a game, and developed quickly into a handy offensive player — and it almost ended his career. He was seriously injured at a tournament in Nashville, and, fearing for his health, his mother made him switch to other sports until his sophomore year in high school.

"People started being ugly with him," she said. "They wanted to knock out the main player, that's the person scoring all the goals."

LeCompte was at an event in July celebrating the 2021 Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lighting (his favorite) when he got an email from a Junior Bruins coach about joining the team. He had never considered that someone was watching him play or paying attention to his stats. LeCompte was always just focused on winning the games in front of him.

"I could've had Wayne Gretzky [at one of my games] and couldn't see him," he said.

During a phone call, the coach told LeCompte he would not have to try out, but joining the team wouldn't be without hurdles.

Foremost, LeCompte will be leaving home for the first time, moving to unknown city in a state that gets much more snow than Georgia does. He also needs to raise $10,000, which will go toward uniforms, insurance, travel expenses, housing and other costs.

As of this week, he's just under $1,000 away from a goal of raising $7,000 just to get to Marlborough. The team has agreed to let Stacie LeCompte pay the remaining $3,000 over the season. The family's GoFundMe fundraiser had raised just under $5,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

No matter how the fundraiser goes, he's coming to Marlborough. The Junior Bruins season begins around Labor Day. Stacie LeCompte will drive her son to Marlborough, where he'll live with a host family for the season. She'll leave him with a car to get to and from the New England Sports Center — and his dream of getting to the NHL. While here, he plans to work part-time and take online classes at Georgia State.

"I know my work will pay off wherever I am," he said this week.