The hockey world is small, and connections seem to abound.
Given that fact, you’d have expected longtime NHLers with Massachusetts ties Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood to have crossed paths quite a bit during their lives.
Yet, for most of their long hockey journeys, that wasn’t the case. Though Wood has moved around a lot, he considers his home to be Manchester, Mass., a small beach down about a half an hour north of Boston in what is known as the North Shore.
Coyle, meanwhile, grew up in East Weymouth, a South Shore town about 30 minutes the other direction from The Hub. Add in their three-year age difference and the two didn’t really know each other, except through a few mutual friends, for most of their lives.
Blame it on geography.
“There’s a rift,” Wood said with a laugh. “We don’t hang out with the South Shore guys.”
“He’s North Shore, I’m South Shore,” Coyle added. “It’s funny in Mass, you meet someone, you’re like, ‘Where you from?’ ‘I’m from North Shore.’ (You’re like), ‘Oh, North Shore.’ It doesn’t mean anything, but you feel like you have to.”
Add in one of college hockey’s biggest rivalries – Coyle skated for Boston University, Wood at Boston College – and it feels a bit like the two are from the same area but words apart.
Now, though, they’re not just friends, they’re teammates and linemates in their first seasons in Columbus. Their paths first intertwined deeper a year ago in Colorado, when Coyle was traded from his hometown Bruins to Colorado at the deadline to help the Avs make a playoff push.
Wood had been there for two years after signing a long-term contract with Colorado in free agency, and with Coyle coming in without having known too many of his new Avs teammates, their natural Massachusetts ties helped take over.
That only strengthened when the two were traded to Columbus together this summer, and they’ve quickly contributed to the CBJ cause. Coyle has been the No. 3 center the Blue Jackets were looking for, scoring five goals and adding 15 assists in the first 32 games while serving as a veteran voice in the locker room.
Wood, meanwhile, has battled through injuries to post eight goals among 12 points in 26 games, and together they comprise the heart of a dependable line for the Blue Jackets.
“To do that together, it’s fun,” Coyle said. “It’s enjoyable. A couple of Mass guys, and it’s fun to think about that stuff. Family and friends back home, mutual friends, I know they’re always watching and cheering us on. To do it together, it’s a nice thing, but you want to make the most of it.”
While the results haven’t shown up of late when it comes to wins and losses for the Blue Jackets, Coyle and Wood have been important pieces of the CBJ lineup. The two have recently been grouped with Cole Sillinger, giving the Blue Jackets a solid trio of experienced players that can both provide offense and match up against the top lines of opposing squads, and thus far the trio has edges at 5-on-5 in shot attempts, scoring chances and high-danger chances.
“That line has been good,” head coach Dean Evason said. “They’ve been able to defend really well for us as a line, but we think they have the ability to score goals, too. We’ve never really had a ‘checking line’, but as it sets up most nights, especially at home, they’re the line that’s going to play against their top line. We’ve liked both of those guys for sure together. They do have a chemistry, and Silly has played really well there as well.”
It helps that Coyle and Wood had times a season ago when they were on the same line in Colorado, and Coyle felt at the time that the two had chemistry thanks to their speed and direct game. The experiences were few and far between, but their success in that limited time has carried over to this season.
“There were a few instances last year in Colorado where we played together once or twice and we connected,” Coyle said. “You play with a guy not that much, but you do a shift or two together or whatever and all of a sudden you score, score another one, and you’re like, ‘Maybe there’s something there,’ but you don’t get the full extent of it. When we got put together whenever it was, my brain went to that, like, ‘There’s something there.’ So we’re just trying to build on that.”
If there’s been any surprise thus far from the duo, it’s Wood’s production in the goal department, but perhaps it shouldn’t be. Known as one of the fastest players in the NHL as well as someone who’s not afraid to mix things up physically, Wood also averaged 15 goals per 82 games in his NHL career when he arrived in Columbus, and he’s on pace to surpass that this season.
The 11th-year NHLer credits his comfort in his new city as one of the reasons he’s been able to produce.
“The group has been great to me the whole year since the first day of camp,” Wood said. “It’s a great team to play for, a lot of great guys here. I’ve been around, but that’s fine with me. I just show up and play each night and control what you can control. I know what my role is here. Just stick to how I got here and good things will happen.”
The two have provided much-needed depth for the Blue Jackets, and they arrived knowing their experience will be counted on to help the team get to where it wants to go. Coyle said he’s excited to continue embracing that role.
“We have to be,” Coyle said. “We’re veteran guys. The team needs us. You make a trade to bring us in, there’s responsibility there. We all want to get better and do what we can to help the team win. We’re playing on a line, so we’ll do it together, so let’s do it. Heck yeah.”
