A week removed from the 2020 NHL Draft, day-to-day life has not changed much for Mason Lohrei (CMA '19). When I got him on the phone the Ohio State commit was in his element, finishing up a bite at Chipotle in between a workout and heading back to the rink for practice.

Naturally, I wanted him to take me back to that special night on October 7, hearing his name called as the 58^th overall pick of the NHL Entry Draft, and the first pick for the Boston Bruins.

"It's everything you dream of as a kid," Lohrei said. He was at the USHL's Green Bay Gambler's home rink, the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin before practice, watching with all his current teammates and his family. "It happens just like that. It's hard to believe but now it's kind of settling in and it's time to get back to work."

That work has never been lost on Lohrei, "My whole time at Culver, it's what I was working towards. Being there, in that environment, it definitely helped me get to where I am today."

Having a dream is one thing, but achieving a dream is another. It requires an acknowledgement, respect, and attention to the process. For Lohrei, those components really began to emerge during his time as a Culver cadet and with the CMA Hockey program.

"Culver is just super detail-oriented," he explained. "Things you'd never think of I now use every time I'm on the ice. I can't thank the coaches enough for what they did, and they deserve a lot of credit. All the things preached at Culver, there's a reason they're doing it. When you get to juniors or college, that's the way you'll have to play."

Culver's coaching staff puts emphasis on things like forward angling, allowing yourself to pressure and recover, attacking with numbers, and playing with pace. 

"Defending first, making the pass and joining up ice; stuff like that really helped me when I got to juniors," Lohrei said. "You start to realize 'I have been playing this way and it works.' It makes the game a lot simpler. I felt prepared to excel in juniors."

Excel he did. Lohrei notched 37 points in 48 games during his inaugural USHL campaign for the Gamblers. Drafted by Waterloo, then traded to Green Bay, he joined the Gamblers for nine games following the conclusion of his Culver senior season. After that taste, he hit the ground running in his first full USHL season and tipped his cap to the physical preparation that helped get him there, "The off-ice development at Culver, it was just fantastic for me."

Lohrei wasn't afraid to acknowledge his humble physical beginnings. "When I first arrived at Culver, I was a young kid, obviously really underdeveloped. I was kind of lost in the weight room and stuff like that."
 
With a wealth of knowledge and tools surrounding him in a boarding school environment, he began to build momentum. "The resources combined with coaches and strength trainers. The ability to constantly work out and skate. Then just the knowledge they all have, the way that they see the game, they know what it takes," he said.

There was one even greater common denominator that helped tie everything together for Lohrei: the relationships he developed along his journey.  

"Being at Culver - being surrounded by my teammates especially - guys that showed me the ropes when I was there. Guys like Fisher Shea, my roommate, and Connor Caponi, a guy that graduated the year before me," he continued, "having guys on me every day about the little details taught me a lot of things."
Lohrei learned from some of Culver Hockey's elite. During his tenure, the guys to his right and left were often already on their way to established programs. In fact, during his junior campaign in 2017-18, he played with 10 future Division I players and 16 total teammates committed to play college hockey — six of them skipping juniors, going straight from Culver to the collegiate level. The 17-18 squad put together a 43-4-1 overall record, finishing as the No. 1 ranked 18U Tier 1 team in the country.

That success was in large part led by a talented senior class. Jackson Pierson went straight to the University of New Hampshire and made an immediate impact. Dylan Pitera landed at Bentley University and saw time in 37 games as a freshmen. Dominic Vidoli went to Boston University, seeing action in six games before rerouting to Sioux City for 2 USHL seasons and now plans to reunite with Lohrei as a Buckeye. Caponi made a stop in juniors while committed to Yale University, ultimately changing his college decision to the University of Denver last year.

"Everyone bought in. A special group, a lot of great players. A lot of those guys are my best friends to this day... you go through it together," he added. "You're having dinner together, going to the rink, practice and working out together. On the road for months out of the year. The overall experience has shaped me into who I am today. I've made my best friends in life. Guys who I'll be in touch with forever through that experience."
 
Fast-forward to October 7. "When I got drafted, a lot of the phone calls I received were from Culver friends."

So, what happens when you combine the two? What happens when you get the close-knit group of guys that Culver cultivates coupled with and the high-end hockey development and resources the school provides?

"We went to a lot of different places where you get exposure. If you're playing your game and playing well, whoever's in the rink is going to notice," Lohrei said. "Culver does a really good job of putting you in places where you can succeed. And I think I just took advantage of that."

Ohio State caught Lohrei early in the process and is the one and only school he visited. The initial contact came at a tournament his 17-18 Culver team attended. He laughed at the idea of love at first sight, simply saying "It was everything I was looking for."
 
Ohio State seems to have landed themselves rare breed, as Lohrei's message post-commitment resembled that of his message post-draft: "Get back to work."

"There's still some things in my game I want to work on before I go to college. I think I can develop those things and be a dominant player my first year."

The journey is long and still ongoing for the skilled defenseman, and it will be exciting to see his career unfold.

His advice for those who are interested in a comparable path?

"I'd say at least give it a chance there. If you go, and give it your all, Culver does special things for a young kid."

Editor's note: Ian Speliotis is currently in his second year as Athletic Deparment Fellow. On top of his Athletic Departmental duties, he is the head coach of the CMA Varsity B Hockey team, and assistant CMA Varsity Lacrosse coach. In his free time, he enjoys writing for film.