It was a bold statement, but Jr. Gulls coach Noah Babin was fine saying it to young Nate Kallen 10 years ago.

"When he was a kid I told him, 'If you don't make it to (NCAA) D-I you didn't reach your potential,' " recalled Babin, a former NCAA and professional player.

That stuck in Kallen's mind throughout the years, including the past one in which his winding hockey journey included a recent three-game stint in the American Hockey League with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

That mid-January stretch, which included a goal, also meant Kallen had reached the same level as his mentor. 

"I told him, 'Congratulations, now you're as good as I was,' " joked Babin, who currently is the Jr. Gulls 14U AA coach.

The challenge

Kallen played for the Jr. Gulls through his first season of 16U hockey, the same time Babin entered the picture with the program.

"I had a lot of good coaches with the Jr. Gulls," Kallen recalled. "Randy Moy did a great job teaching fundamentals. Larry Cahn taught us about what to expect at various levels of the game.

"Noah took me under his wing. It was perfect timing when he got there."

Babin also surprised Kallen with his boldness.

"He said, 'Do you want it or not?' " Kallen remembered. "I was playing 16U AA2 - I wasn't good enough to be on the first 16U AA team. He took my game to another level.

"I went to an online school and spent time on the ice with him every day. He'd take me to Chuze Fitness to work out with him. He taught me how to eat and lift like a pro. I can't stress enough how much he's done."

The path to the pros

When San Diego didn't have an 16U AAA team, Kallen played a year for Orange County Hockey Club and then another in Detroit before spending a season playing junior hockey with Muskegon of the United States Hockey League. The 6-foot, 190-pounder always had an offensive flair to his game, and Ferris State took note.

The Bulldogs recruited him, and Kallen ultimately ended up playing 146 games (never missing one) over four seasons. He scored 64 points and wore a letter his final two seasons, including the captain's "C" as a senior.

He played three games for Maine of the East Coast Hockey League after his senior season ended in March 2020.

We all know what happened next, and playing pro hockey suddenly was put on hold for thousands of players.

Still, Maine signed Kallen for the 2020-21 season. Then half of the ECHL shut down, so he stayed in San Diego and coached with Babin until December. Rapid City of the ECHL signed Kallen, he played four games and then was diagnosed with Covid.

His second welcome-to-the-pros moment came when he returned from the illness and was cut in the locker room while getting dressed for practice. So then what?

"There was a lot of ups and downs," he said. "I was out looking for jobs in San Diego."

Then Macon of the Southern Professional Hockey League called. 

"I said, 'There is no chance I'm doing that,' " Kallen said of the lower-level league. "I was just so down. I talked to Noah a lot during that time and he said it was important just to get some games in, which was a great point."

It also proved to be a great life lesson about opportunities.

"It was really fun," Kallen said. "We won almost every game but lost in the championship game. I made some really good friends, and if I had not done it I might not be in pro hockey now."

Getting the call

Kallen, who was so durable during his junior and college careers, ran into more health issues this season, when he re-signed with Maine.

He sustained a shoulder injury during a preseason game and missed two months. He played for three weeks, then got Covid again. 

"All you can do is keep sticking with it," he said. 

In mid-January the Thunderbirds came calling after their NHL affiliate, the St. Louis Blues, called up several players. 

"It was an incredible feeling," he said. "I was so happy even though it was only for a week. I'd been injured, and it wasn't like I was having a stellar year. But when I went to preseason camp the coach in Maine (Ben Guite) said he would advocate for me, and he pulled some strings."

The jump in levels was an eye opener, but wasn't one that Kallen went into blindly.

"The AHL and NHL play similar styles," said Babin, who played more than 100 AHL games after his four-year career at Notre Dame. "It's a thinking game. If you can't do that you're going to struggle."

Added Kallen, "The pace is so much faster. I only played 7 minutes in the first game, I was just trying to get through. There was a lot for the brain to process. If your stick is off by an inch the opposing player is going to go right through you.

"By the third game I felt good, like this was within my grasp."

In between came what he described as "one of the coolest. moments of my career."

During a 5-3 loss to Providence, Kallen scored a goal with 1:30 left that drew the Thunderbirds to the final margin after they'd been down 5-1 only  a couple of shifts earlier. 

"What do you do?" he asked. "We're still getting beat, I didn't know if I should skate the line and bump fists or not."

For now Kallen is back "grinding in the ECHL," but the taste of being one step from the NHL remains fresh - and motivating.

"My friends and I talked about it a lot - how crazy was it that Noah said what he did to a 15-year-old AA player at the time?"

It turns out it wasn't as crazy as it sounded. Nate Kallen is skating proof of it.