Hockey is full of improbable success stories. Then there is Kyle Gonzalez’s journey through the sport. 

The 30-year-old, whose foundation was built during five years of playing in the Anaheim Ice in-house league, is about to enter his seventh season in professional hockey. 

“I’ve definitely got one more year in me,” says Gonzalez, who re-signed with the Danbury Hat Tricks on Aug. 12. “Last year, I had a gnarly back injury. It wasn’t right to end a career on that. What happens after next season is up to God. If I get a big-boy opportunity maybe I’ll continue.”

GONZALEZ DISPLAYS REMARKABLE PERSEVERANCE

If ever there was a study in perseverance, Gonzalez is it.

Consider this: The defenseman played for seven teams in three leagues in his first six seasons of pro hockey. That followed four seasons at a Division III hockey program that is approximately the same distance to Yellowknife in the Canadian Northwest Territories (above Alberta) as it is to Southern California. That came after playing for five junior teams in four seasons in three leagues. 

Through it all, Gonzalez has battled through injuries and the day-to-day grind of playing in the equivalent of Class A minor leagues in the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL), Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), and the FPHL’s fore-runner, the Federal Hockey League. 

“Hockey isn’t for the faint of heart,” he says. “I’ve been fortunate for the most part. At 12, I had a broken wrist. I broke a collarbone in Birmingham in the 2021-22 season. It was a weird hit into the boards.

“Last season, I got a herniated disc, which was the gnarliest of them all, in November. I tried everything but surgery — physical therapy, a cortisone shot, and other rehab techniques. I finally had surgery in January.

“I only played 10 games and into the playoffs. It was a learning experience, especially staying patient.”

ROLLING WITH THE PUNCHES

Patience has been a prerequisite for Gonzalez because day-to-day life in most minor leagues is much different than you’d imagine if your reference point is the NHL or even the American Hockey League. 

Long bus rides are a given, but there also are “unique” living situations.

“That’s the craziest thing I’ve gone through,” Gonzalez says. “In the SPHL you get nice apartments, three bedrooms with one or two other players.

“In the Fed, the housing’s different. My wife (Megan) came with me to Danbury. The ownership has our team living in a hotel they own for the entire season. Obviously, having a wife and cat didn’t work with that. 

“Last season, we ended up living in a farmhouse on an equestrian farm. The farm was beautiful, but the cabin we were in was a one-room studio on the back of the property. It was very interesting because it was an older building, so that meant no central heating or air. 

“It was in the woods. We didn’t see any bears but there were coyotes. This season we’ll have a one-bedroom apartment.”

Still, Gonzalez wouldn’t change a thing.

“Minors is what it is,” he says. “We’re lucky to play, and anyone would want to be in our position. You have to roll with the punches. 

“I love the game. It’s more than a game to me, it’s a lifestyle my life is built around.”

HOW Kyle Gonzalez's JOURNEY STARTED

What makes Gonzalez’s story even more incredible is he didn’t even play travel hockey at any level until he was 13.

Fate played a hand in Gonzalez’s first exposure to hockey.

Chino Hills opened a park near the family home when he was 4. The park included two roller hockey rinks, something that caught young Kyle’s attention. So, his father Eddie took “a leap of faith”, bought him gear, and took him to an open tryout. 

“Fortunately, everyone made the team,” Gonzalez says with a chuckle. “I have no one to thank but my parents because the sport was so foreign to my family. My dad immigrated from Mexico, my mom (Hiromi) came from Japan.

“My parents instilled in me that no-quit mentality. Once you start something, you finish it. If I didn’t have full support from them it would turn into something stressful.”

Roller hockey gave Kyle a foundation for skating and stick handling. Then fate rang the doorbell again. He and a friend went to a hockey initiation class one Sunday afternoon at Anaheim Ice in 2002. There, he met Rick Hutchinson, the longtime Director of Hockey for The Rinks.

“Kyle was a unique young man,” Hutchinson says. “He and his family are great people. 

“It was clear at a young age he had the skill set to go places in the game. I told him, ‘Just train, learn the game, learn hockey IQ, and be respectful. … He did it in an unconventional way, but he did it because he’s a great student of the game.”

Gonzalez picks up with the how.

“From 8 to 13 I played in-house hockey until I was a first-year Bantam,” he says. “It wasn’t until then I played travel. Hutchie was my mentor. I learned to love the game and develop because of the way he introduced me to it and the steps I took. 

“I played youth rec hockey one or two times per week when others my age were playing every day and coming across intense coaches. I watched others get burnt out on the game by the time they were in high school.”

Hutchinson says Gonzalez’ makeup portended a future in the game despite his humble beginnings in it. 

“He’s always just loved the game,” Hutchinson says. “He loved being at the rink and he was super respectful. He always asked what he could work on. It was hard when he was above his peers, but he stayed interested in getting better, and he had such a sense of respect and maturity at a young age. 

“That’s a reflection of his parents. Their character is just flowing through him. He’s the type of young man you want to go out of your way to help because of his attitude.”

The hockey partnership formally continued until Gonzalez was 16. 

“A bunch of us grew up playing together at The Rinks,” Gonzalez says. “I then played Midgets at 14 with the Jr. Ducks, and when Hutchie coached JSerra High School’s new program, I switched over to play for him.”

In the late 2000s, the Jr. Ducks had yet to launch their AAA program, so Gonzalez moved to Wenatchie, Wash., and made an 18U AAA team at 16. “That’s when the exposure started and I had some ambitions to go D-I,” he says.

THE JOURNEY TO COLLEGE

Those ambitions weren’t realized. However, his and his family’s dreams of him playing college hockey, and more importantly, getting a college degree were. (He’s since added a master’s degree in Human Resource Management). 

Gonzalez spent nearly all of his junior career playing Tier III with a few games in the North American Hockey League sprinkled in. 

Again, not a conventional recipe for playing college hockey.

“Playing Tier III most of my junior career helped me develop,” he says. “I visited a lot of places and learned a lot.

“I was fortunate enough to be in contact with Northland College, and that’s where I decided to go. At the time, it was a team I was going to be able to hop onto and play right away, or so I thought.”

Based in Ashland, Wis., Northland sits at the top of one of the United States’ northernmost states on the edge of Lake Superior, 2100 miles and 30 hours by car from Chino Hills. 

“It was such a good experience,” Gonzalez recalls. “Now I didn’t know anybody, and all of these players were the best on their (junior or youth) teams. I learned a lot in my first year and I only played half of the games, but it was a learning experience I wouldn’t trade for anything.

“Then I got a chance to play professionally, and I still can’t believe it.”

Still, there is a small element of wondering what might have been. 

“Who’s to say that little window of not playing AAA kept me from going D-I or playing in the USHL,” he said. “I love the game. It’s more than a game to me, it’s a lifestyle my life is built around.”

Through it all, there were summers spent at The Rinks, helping introduce hockey to young players. 

“He helped me run my camps as soon as he was old enough,” Hutchinson says. “I could walk away and he could run it as well as I could. He has a lot of important skills to teach young players because he learned the ins and outs of the game from the grass-roots level.”

GONZALEZ’S TRAINING PAYS DIVIDENDS FOR HIS TEAMS

It’s no surprise that Gonzalez is a proven contributor to successful teams.

He helped the Danbury Hat Tricks capture the FPHL Commissioner’s Cup in 2023 while scoring 34 points, which exceeded his combined output in college and his first two pro seasons.

That championship is indelibly etched in Gonzalez’s memory bank. 

“I almost get emotional talking about it more than a year later,” he says. “That has to be the moment I will take to the grave.

“I never won anything growing up other than a holiday tournament here or there. That was the best moment of my life other than June 6 (when he married Megan). That championship was the pinnacle of my career.”

It was an affirmation of a lifetime’s worth of hard work and an attitude that made him an indispensable part of his team.

“His time playing junior and minor pro taught him a lot about the game and what it takes to become an elite or competitive player,” Hutchinson says. “There’s a lot of physical and mental parts that I don’t think anyone is prepared to do.  As much as you think you are, you aren’t.

“He performed, competed, and continued to train. He developed his hockey IQ and mental toughness. For a hockey player to put it all together is unique.” 

GONZALEZ’S EXAMPLE: NEVER GIVE UP

Gonzalez’s non-traditional and persistent rise through hockey provides him with a unique perspective on what it takes to succeed in the game. And what a healthy definition of success is for that matter. 

“One, you’re coming from California, and even as much as the game has grown, people still have stereotypes,” he says.

“Two, never give up whether someone thinks you’re a house-league, AA or AAA player at 10. It doesn’t matter where you are at 8 or 10.

“Scouts care about what type of person you are off the ice, in the locker room, if you’re a good person. Players don’t realize how much coaches take that into account. Be the best person you can be and everything will follow along.”

Gonzalez’s hockey skills opened doors, but his soft skills kept him in the game, Hutchinson says. 

“It’s his caring about his teammates,” the mentor says. “He’s such a good team player. You can lean on him on and off the ice because he’s so well-grounded. 

“This is the kind of guy an organization doesn’t want to let go. He’s got the intelligence, the work ethic, and he’s a leader of people. That’s a recipe for success no matter what you go into.”