NORTH ANDOVER — “Entrepreneur” Brian Packard said sometimes it can take days, weeks or even months to find a potential winner.
The incident, just a few miles from his North Andover home, was the quickest he'd ever seen as a businessman.
“Within about five minutes, I knew something big had happened,” Packard said.
Packard, who launched his Yard Rink business in 2023 (manufacturing and selling NHL-sponsored outdoor/backyard ice hockey rinks in the U.S. and Canada), came up with the idea to build a free street hockey rink at the Joe Herman Youth Center in North Andover earlier this year.
Packard contacted Youth Center Executive Director Rick Gorman about donating an outdoor skating rink, primarily the interlocking boards around its perimeter.
There is netting around the rink to keep stray shots away.
“I heard there were some kids playing street hockey over there,” Packard said, “so I went and looked into it and contacted Rick (Gorman) and asked if I could help out in any way. When you play on the sidewalk or sports court, the ball goes everywhere and it slows down play.”
A sports court was purchased for the youth center through the grant, allowing for pickleball, handball and a variety of other sports and activities.
Before the expansion in July 2023, kids played street hockey on a paved outdoor basketball court.
“We started doing street hockey about four years ago, but this is another level,” Gorman said of the summer fun program for North Andover kids.
“The ball doesn't leave the rink,” Gorman said. “To say the new rink is popular is an understatement.”
In fact, a few months ago, Gorman conducted a survey at a youth center asking kids to name their favorite sports.
“To be honest, I thought most kids would say 'basketball,' because we have indoor courts and paved outdoor courts,” Gorman said. “Basketball and street hockey were about 50 percent each. They're definitely on the rise.”
That's where Packard comes in, and the setup at the youth center is expected to be something special for “street hockey” enthusiasts, and maybe his company.
NHL STREET is the professional hockey conglomerate's attempt to return the sport to the standards of the 1970s and 1990s.
In the local neighborhood.
There are about 60 leagues nationwide using the NHL STREET backdrop, and Packard expects that number to exceed 100 by the end of the year.
He hopes that his company's connection with home rinks for “ice hockey” will expand to street hockey as well.
“One model is flag football,” Packard said. “There are over 700,000 kids playing flag football. A lot of us grew up playing street hockey, and for some reason that has died down. I think this trend is going to grow.”
While most of Packard's year was focused on November, December and January in the “cold” areas of the Northeast United States and Canada, Street Hockey would open up a whole new world and market covering all 50 states.
But Gorman said the best part is that there are plans to install a street hockey rink and an actual ice skating rink in the winter.
“All I know is these kids are obsessed with this street hockey thing,” Gorman said.
“I grew up in Winthrop. I always played basketball, but I also played a lot of street hockey. This is a godsend for our kids.”
Email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.
