We’re on edition #20 of this column! It has been such a joy to discover all of the different stories of NHL players from Southern California across these many profiles — it’s a gift that keeps on giving.

Often, this column discusses the difficulties of being a hockey player in Southern California. An unspoken, unconscious attitude of mine that I realize has shined through in this column is that programs that elevate their players in this region are few and far between, and players are kind of just willing and skilling their way to the pros. Imagine how good Trevor Moore would be if he was born in Minnesota or Montreal, I have thought as I have pounded away at the keys.

I am beyond thankful they were born in SoCal, elevating the world’s most entertaining game in the wonderful region I live in. But in a way, this column has only pointed out the challenges of being a SoCal hockey player. There is a lack of hockey culture, a lack of weather that supports fostering that culture, the extensive distance between most towns and a lack of a good hockey program their youths can play for. I’ve silently poked at what has felt like the coals of hockey in a nonhockey region, urging the sport to catch fire.

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I don’t think I can hold that attitude anymore. I’m changing my mind, and it’s because of a guy named Sam Harris.

Harris was born in San Diego, Calif., in 2003. His father, Steve, competed in show jumping for Team Canada in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. While it feels like hockey and riding horses couldn’t be more different from one another as sports, I think it’s awesome that Sam and his father are both pros in these deeply divergent areas of sport.

You may have also noticed another important detail. Harris’s father — as well as his entire family — are from Montreal, Canada. Remember that for later.

Perhaps it was because of his Canadian heritage, but Harris fell in love with hockey from a young age. In his youth, he was coached by longtime San Diego Jr Gulls coach Randy Moy.

Harris described Moy as someone who pushed him and worked with him for three to four thousand hours growing up, helping to develop his baseline skills and offensive strategy.

It’s clear to anyone who’s been around Moy how much he loves the game. That love has rubbed off on his son, Tyler, a longtime professional hockey player in his own right.

When Randy passed away from a battle with cancer in 2020, his family established the Randy Moy Hockey Foundation in his honor. The foundation seeks to provide financial assistance for young hockey players looking to continue their path through the game. This is crucial, as hockey is by far the most expensive youth sport, made even more financially difficult in a region where there are fewer teams.

Moy loved the game of hockey. And he wanted other people who loved the game to have every chance to play it.

That’s what Harris says is special about Southern California hockey, specifically San Diego hockey in his case. The hockey community may not be big, but it is a tight-knit community of people who love the game more than anyone.

Harris is grateful for his time in San Diego because it fostered his love for hockey through the encouragement and support of those with a deep passion for the game around him.

That launched what has become an exciting hockey trajectory for Harris. Like many before him, he moved from SoCal, attending Shattuck- St. Mary’s in Minnesota for high school. He then played two years for the Sioux Falls Stampede.

Fellow LA on Icers Ryan Johnson (edition seven) and Chad Ruhwedel (edition 11) also played for Sioux Falls on their way to NHL careers. In addition, Ruhwedel is a fellow San Diego native. Just in case you’re keeping track of the greater “L.A. on Ice” shared universe.

Harris’s second year in Sioux Falls, the 2022-23 season, was superb. The left winger scored 30 goals and 26 assists for 56 points in 56 games — an average of a point per game. You have to be pretty good at impact scoring to do so on a nightly basis.

NHL teams took notice, and Harris was drafted in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL draft by the Montreal Canadiens. It was a full-circle moment for the Harris family and particularly exciting for Steve Harris’s Quebecois side of the family.

Harris also committed to the University of Denver, where he currently plays and continues to try to develop himself into an NHL-ready player.

His Denver career started a little slowly on a personal level. When Canadiens director of player development Rob Ramage visited him, he was on the fourth line with very limited ice time.

But he persevered and contributed 21 points in 42 games for a team that eventually won the NCAA championship.

And this season, Harris is off to a torrid start. He already has nine goals and four assists for 13 points in just nine games. He also just won National Collegiate Hockey Conference forward of the week after three goals in two games against Lindenwood University, including the game -winner on both nights.

Harris leads the country with his nine goals and has fueled the Pioneers to their best start in program history with a perfect 10-0-0 record.

He’s been forged into one of the best college players in the country, and he credits a huge role in that to the area he grew up in, San Diego.

Youth sports have lots of issues, and hockey is no exception. Parents and coaches vicariously live through their kids, pushing them to win, win, win, while forgetting to remind them to have fun.

So, while I still hope the SoCal hockey community grows, I hope it stays the same in one key way: that it is fun and encouraging.

Southern California may not have the largest hockey culture, but it has one that is passionately thriving. Sam Harris is proof that though it is sometimes weird and it’s definitely unique, SoCal youth hockey is special.

Ethan Inman is a senior writing about Los Angeles’ unique hockey heroes in his column, “L.A. on Ice,” which runs every other Thursday.