Episode 88: Tom Upton. Tom first grew up on Long Island and shared some memories of going to Islander’s games as a kid. He would move to Austin, Texas at 10 years old which was a different hockey experience for him. He would go on to play parts of 4 seasons in the NAHL before deciding to attend D3 Wisconsin Stevens-Point University. He talked about his amazing 4 years there and how he is still close with a group of teammates to this day. One of them is last week’s guest, Anthony Noreen, who both played with and coached Tom at UWSP. After graduating, Tom would also stay on as an Assistant Coach and begin his coaching journey. This journey has taken Tom through various leagues such as the USHL, NAHL and NCAA Division 1. Tom is now in his 4th season at the University of Massachusetts, working under a veteran coach in Greg Carvel. We talked about his crazy route to where he is and what he has learned along the way. I was also curious to Coach Carvel’s impact on Tom. Tom brought up the word “hard” and that is a common theme at UMass. Everyone needs to be hard and Tom gave many examples of what it means. It is easy to see why UMass has been on a great path for the past 10+ seasons and why Tom is a good fit there. Like anyone, he still has dreams and one of those is the NHL. A potential awesome achievement for a kid from Texas. Hope you enjoy!