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Badger's Bright Future

By Jamie Macdonald, 01/07/21, 6:15PM EST

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Mass native Grayson Badger excelling on and off the ice


Grayson Badger during the 15 Only Tier I 2019-20 National Bound Massachusetts State Championships. Photo by Bill Patten.

“I still feel like (diversity in hockey) is a big topic, but I also feel like it’s changing for the better, diversity in hockey. You see a lot more kids of color on the ice, and I think that’s great for the sport.”


Grayson Badger at USA Hockey National Player Development Camp. Photo by Dan Hickling.

Editor’s Note: This is Part II of our two-part diversity series focused on players, coaches, staff and programs that make us #MassProud with their inclusion efforts and playing the game they love no matter what.

Before COVID-19, hockey life for Grayson Badger was cruising right along. Almost exactly a year ago at this time, a Boston Globe headline read, “Brookline boys bring new attitude to ice,” thanks in large part to the then-sophomore’s leadership on the ice as Brookline High School boy’ hockey captain and on the scoreboard. BHS went on to its most successful hockey season in three decades. 

Just two months before that headline, in November 2019, Badger had led the Cape Cod Whalers’ 15 Only Tier I team to a Massachusetts state championship. He also led that team in scoring, as the Whalers went 3-0 while outscoring their opponents, 25-3, over the course of two days. And this past May, the Green Bay Gamblers made him a Phase I selection in the USHL draft. 

Still, while the pandemic has set all kinds unforeseen obstacles in front of young hockey players, Badger has found a whole lot of ways to keep his star on the rise.

It has been that way almost since he began playing at the age of 4 in Hyde Park.

“I loved it out of the gate,” Badger says. “I always loved getting out there. Just skating, being with some of my friends. I love to be playing hockey, whether it’s with my friends, games, practices, anything. I love to be on the ice.”

Now with the U16s, Badger averaged more than a point per game in 31 games to lead the Whalers in scoring this season, too. Rarely shut out on the scoreboard, Badger went from a nine-point, five-game streak in December to a nine-point, three-game streak later in the month. 

“We have a group of star-studded kids, obviously,” says Badger, who played often with Harvard-bound Michael Callow and Pavit Mehra, and he credits head coach David Franzosa for much of his success. “There’s a lot of great talent on the team, and it’s a lot of fun to play with kids who make you better. We make each other better on the ice and practice is very, very fun.”

Badger’s future appears to be a bright one, and he does consider academics as integral to both his present and his next steps in the game. In fact, academics has long been central in the Badger family.

“[My father] wants me to do well, and academics always comes first for him,” he says. “No matter what it is, that’s one of the biggest things in my house.”

Now, with his first academic year at Dexter Southfield underway, he’s looking forward to the hockey season beginning in earnest.

“Obviously Coach [Danny] Donato has been there for years, and I also like the school,” says Badger, who loved playing for Mike Yanovtich at BHS and admitted it was a difficult decision to leave. “[Dexter] is a great school, obviously, with great academics as well as hockey, and it just incorporates those two things.”

Brookline High, for its part, wished Badger success, tweeting from its hockey team’s account in March 2020, “Bittersweet but we are very happy for one of the most dynamic players to watch, All around great kid from a great family, fantastic teammate. Helped rebuild our program. 80pts in 2yrs incl. 12 playoff pts. (8goals in 3 games) Good luck @BadgerGrayson. Dexter is lucky to have you!”


Grayson Badger during the 15 Only Tier I 2019-20 National Bound Massachusetts State Championships. Photo by Bill Patten.


Cape Cod Whalers at the 15 Only Tier I 2019-20 National Bound Massachusetts State Championships. Photo by Bill Patten.

As a player of color, Badger also knows the hockey world hasn’t always been a perfect place.

“I still feel like it’s a big topic, but I also feel like it’s changing for the better, diversity in hockey,” he says. “You see a lot more kids of color on the ice, and I think that’s great for the sport.”

Still, Badger is aware of incidents that have touched his family, including his brother, throughout the years.

“That’s, obviously, sometimes hard to hear,” he says. “But it happens, and we’re trying to move past it.”

At this stage in his young career, he’s looking ahead without putting additional pressure on himself.

“Not any extra pressure, I would say, but obviously trying to be a role model for kids,” Badger says.

Badger’s father, who played a couple of football seasons at the United States Military Academy, may help in that respect, too.

“I’m not going say [he’s] strict, but to the point,” Badger says with a laugh. “My dad is a pretty straightforward, straight-to-the point guy. He doesn’t really like me doing stuff later, and he never wants me being late.”

On the ice, Badger, who attended the 2019 USA Hockey Boys Select 15 Player Development Camp, aims to keep getting better.

“I feel like I have really changed as a player,” he says. “I’ve really worked on my skating over the past couple years. Early on, I was a pretty good player, but I wasn’t really putting up a lot of points. I’ve just gotten better every year and it’s been a pretty good run.”

For a self-scouting report, Badger considers himself a player with goal-scoring ability who also tries to involve his teammates – with that team coming first.

“Whatever it takes to win,” says Badger. “I just want to have team success. I like to incorporate physicality into my game, and I definitely take it one shift at a time. But also playing that shift like it’s your last. Maximum effort, every shift.”

As someone who considers attending the Beanpot as one of the highlights of his past year, Badger is also a hockey fan who would like to stay in the game as long as possible.

“I just want to take hockey as far as I can,” he says. “Whether that’s college – obviously, hopefully – or beyond, but who knows? Who knows? That’s the real question. I just want to play and have fun.”

2020 USHL Draft Included 27 Players from Massachusetts

Article by Mass Hockey, which includes Grayson Badger

Badger’s talent and leadership uplift hockey team

Article by Zoe Brooks from the Sagamaore, Brookline High School student newspaper

Brookline boys bring new attitude to ice

Article by Jim Clark from the Boston Globe