When teams representing the Adirondack 46ers hockey club make the 5-hour drive from Malone to Amherst to compete in the 2025 N.Y. State Tournament, they will bring with them more than just their own championship aspirations. They will also carry the hopes and well wishes of communities throughout the North Section of the state that have a vested interest in their success.
The 46ers organization, which takes its name from an organization of hikers who have climbed all 46 of the highest peaks of the Adirondack Mountains, has worked hard to create a winning program and culture by reaching beyond the small town located a stone’s throw from the Canadian border to bring talented players from surrounding towns into the fold to help build a powerhouse program.
“Malone isn’t that big. For our girls’ teams, especially with our area being remote, it can be difficult at times to pull together enough girls to field competitive teams,” said Matt Jones, the association’s president who also serves as the girls’ program director.
“That’s why we have girls that come to us all the way from Plattsburgh to the east, Canton to the west, Massena to the north and all the way down to Saranac Lake and Lake Placid to the south of us. That helps us create competitive teams. That’s why we call those teams the Adirondack 46ers because it’s more of a regional name rather than just town names.”
Over the years several of those teams have done well at the state tournament, with a couple of them representing New York well on the national stage.
Since the program was established in 2017, 46ers teams have advanced to nine state title games, including the 16U boys’ team that won the 2021 Tier III title and the 18U boys’ squad that captured the 2022 Tier III crown. Both teams were runners up in 2023.
On the girls’ side, the 46ers 12U girls were the 2023 Tier II champions, and the 2024 16U girls’ squad won the state title and carried that momentum to Green Bay, Wis., where they were the runner-up for a USA Hockey National Championship title.
The bulk of that 16U girls’ team returns this year to compete in the 19U Tier II tournament, which begins March 7-9. The 46ers will also have girls’ teams competing in the 12U and 14U divisions.
“The players within our program start to see some of our teams make a national tournament and they start to gain confidence and start to say, ‘Hey, that’s something we can do, too,’” Jones said.
“We’ve had success with that because we have players that have helped push teams to get to a national tournament and they have some experience in it. We’ve also been able to attract some talented players that have been able to help us get there as well.”
The dedication of the players and their parents to travel thousands of miles over the course of a season in search of the best competition has played a huge role in the success of the program. It all comes with the territory of living in the North Section of the state, which covers an area that stretches from Massena and Plattsburg down to Albany and Watertown.
“I would definitely say the success that our program has had is because of the commitment and the willingness of our players and their parents to drive an hour for practice, an hour for home games in Malone,” said Jones, who grew up in the area and was a four-year hockey player at Hamilton College.
“Not only have we been able to create these competitive teams, but a lot of these girls have created some really good friendships with girls throughout the north country.”
While the 46ers have been able to bring in players from surrounding towns, the girls’ program is still considered a Tier II program, which is typically associated with community-based teams. That’s because the North Section does not have any Tier I programs at the present time, which is something that Jones sees as the next logical step in the evolution of not only his program but girls’ hockey in the northern part of the state.
“There was a long time where we didn’t have girls’ programs, but as we started building the programs and started getting state bids from the North Section it created a good experience for a lot of our players,” said Jones, whose daughters Ava and Maggy play for the 12U and 14U teams, respectively.
“In the time that I’ve been involved with girls’ hockey, I’ve definitely seen a good growth to it. But there’s also a lot of times where you have to travel to find good competition if you want to continue to improve the girls’ skills. You definitely have to drive to have those experiences and play those matchups.”
More than just adding players from other associations, the Malone Minor Hockey program, which the 46ers are part of, is keen on developing players through its thriving house league program.
All told, there are 300 kids playing hockey under the Malone Minor Hockey banner. Those numbers have pushed the local rink, the Malone Civic Center, to the limits, prompting the youth hockey board to press the town to keep the rink open longer into the warmer weather to accommodate its spring league.
While the 46ers get a lot of the attention, Jones is quick to laud the Jr. Huskies house league program for providing opportunities for players who are just starting out or may not be willing to commit as much time and effort to playing hockey.
“We’re still a grassroots type of organization, so we want to have offerings for every player that is within our association or has interest in joining our association,” Jones said. “We want to make sure we have a place to play for kids that are just there for a good skate. We also want to create opportunities for kids that maybe want to go beyond high school and have an opportunity at college hockey.
“It’s definitely not easy. We have our challenges at times, but we try as hard as we can to at least give an opportunity to kids at all different levels.”