NORTH AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Chill Forward Ripple Proud of Florida Roots Winter Springs Native off to Fast Start in ’11-12
By Matt Mackinder D
avid Ripple is out to make his last year of junior hockey count and with seven points in his first eight games, it looks like he is well on his way. Ripple, a 20-year-old Winter Springs native, put up 21 goals and 42 points last season with the Coulee Region (Wisc.) Chill and is on pace to shatter those numbers this season. Earning his points has been a trademark for Ripple since he came to the Chill out of the Jacksonville Ice Dogs organization in 2010. “I played defense in Junior B and when I came
here to Coulee Region, I made the transition to for- ward,” said Ripple. “A lot of the goals I score aren’t pretty. I just go to the net and crash and bang. That’s where I get a lot of my points. I like to play physical and also move the puck low and set guys up. I guess you could say I’m a power forward.” Idolizing NHL players like Eric Lindros and Mar- ian Hossa in his younger years and now looking up to Milan Lucic, Ripple wasn’t always a fan of the ice. Like most kids in Florida, he started out playing roller hockey. “You can’t do much with roller hockey, so I started
playing ice,” explained Ripple. “It just evolved that way. I realized that I wanted to make something for myself with sports and hockey has pretty much taken
ture. I’ve talked to a couple schools, so we’ll see.” Ripple was actually born in Providence, R.I., and
moved to Florida with his family at age five when his father’s job required the move south. He said his time in Rhode Island set the stage for his love of hockey. “One of our neighbors played hockey and my dad said we used to go to a lot of his games,” said Ripple. “My dad said I really liked watching the games and then when we came to Florida, I wanted to play hockey myself and it just kind of took off from there.” Once in Florida, Ripple played for the Orlando
Winter Springs native David Ripple has been averaging almost a point per game this season with the Coulee Region Chill. Photo/NAHL
over my life. It’s all I want to do.” Next season, Ripple has his eye on playing Division
I college hockey and even though he hasn’t received any offers yet, he’s keeping a positive outlook on the situation. “Last year, our top four forwards all had D-I op-
portunities,” said Ripple. “I’m not too worried. I know that if I keep putting in the time and continuing to work hard that college hockey should be in my fu-
NAHL.com
Stars organization and then for the aforementioned Ice Dogs at the Junior B level. Florida provided Ripple with his early hockey influences. “I played summer hockey with Shawn Ray (now coach of the EJHL South’s Space Coast Hurricanes) and Zach Boyer was my 14U coach with the Stars and those two pushed me when I was younger,” Rip- ple said. “In Jacksonville, Brett Strot was my coach and he was the one that really helped improved my overall game, how to train and how to deal with the mental mindset of the game. It’s kind of funny that I play for his brother (Garrett) now. Small world.” Suffice to say that if Ripple continues his scoring
ways, he’ll join another small fraternity in the college hockey ranks. The odds are good that it’s only a mat- ter of time.
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