FEDERAL PROSPECTS HOCKEY LEAGUE: Danbury Hat Tricks vs. Watertown Wolves @ William G. Mennen Sports Arena (Morris Township, NJ)

26 IN 26 STOP 7

*This trip occurred on March 21, 2026.

Some readers may remember me visiting the Danbury "Jr." Hat Tricks about a month or so ago. While I mentioned that the "senior" Hat Tricks were in a league called the Federal Prospects Hockey League, I also noted that an FPHL game in Danbury was a tough sell due to timing. However...

...they ended up coming to me!

First, an introduction to the league: the Federal Prospects Hockey League is...somewhat hard to explain. On the one hand, it’s the highest level of hockey in the United States that (technically) has no direct connection to the NHL or its affiliated leagues (so, in essence, it’s the hockey version of independent baseball); it refers to itself as "Single A Minor Professional Hockey". However, if you recall my discussion of the AHL (and ECHL), then you may remember me saying that it’s rare for players in the "affiliated" minor leagues of hockey to become stars in the NHL. Take out the affiliated part, and making the NHL (and sometimes the affiliated leagues) from here is a MASSIVE achievement in and of itself. My understanding is that many players who can't make it in even these minor leagues end up here - both young and old; in fact, one player on each team's roster for this game was born in the 1980s¹!

The league also has a surprisingly large geographic footprint for this level (where flying is usually difficult for teams): Danbury is the easternmost team in the league, but the westernmost team is in Topeka, Kansas, the southernmost team is on the Gulf Coast in Biloxi, Mississippi, and we'll get to the northernmost team in a sec.

The nice thing about the league, however, is that it has a platform where fans can stream every game for free (along with all but one of the teams streaming on YouTube)². Sure, the hockey is probably...not that great compared to watching the NHL, but it’s something to turn on if you’re sick and tired of watching your favorite NHL team lose night in and night out (unless you enjoy hatewatching the Toronto Maple Leafs to determine whether or not the next LFR is going to be worth watching³).

I've already gone over most of what you probably need to kow about the Danbury Hat Tricks, but if you forgot: they were founded in 2019 after other Danbury teams in the same league folded, and they won a title in 2023 (though strangely, they also seem to claim a title won by one of the prior teams in Danbury). However, I do need to mention that they were the official "visiting" team for this game; with that in mind, I think we should also introduce the "operational home team" for this game: the Watertown Wolves (though being almost 300 miles from "home" feels like a bit of a stretch - especially when you consider that Danbury is closer).

Founded in 2010 as the 1000 Island Privateers and originally based a bit north of Watertown closer to the Thousand Islands (a group of islands in the St. Lawrence River which, yes, lends its name to the salad dressing), the team relocated down to Watertown in 2012 as the Watertown Privateers, and then became the Wolves in 2014 - the same season the team won its first championship (adding two more in 2018 and 2022). With the three titles, the Wolves are also the league’s most successful team in terms of championships, and have the distinction of being the only founding franchise of the FPHL to still be active (one thing the FPHL shares with independent baseball leagues: INSANE market volatility)⁴. They are also the league's northernmost team for now: a new team is coming to Minnesota next year, and they will claim the title (with the apt name of "Northern Lights").

As a side note, I mentioned that all but one team in the FPHL stream on YouTube, and if you couldn't guess by me bringing it up here, said team is the Wolves - they do have a channel where they stream games (that isn't the FPHL's), but it's on a site I'd rather not talk about...no, not that one.

Moving on...

Mennen Sports Arena (where this game took place) was opened in 1975, named after the president of a local company known for its deodorant sticks, and hosts a lot of local hockey teams - mostly youth and school teams. I also recall reading about an indoor football team that was set to play here one time, but have NO IDEA if they ever played a game or not (which is...par for the course for indoor football⁵). Technically, it's just outside of Morristown, NJ, but the area its in is often amalgamated into Morristown itself, so if you're a stickler for a specific location, it's kinda confusing (heck, Google got confused when I was trying to pin down where specifically the arena is).

In all honestly, the main arena is surprisingly "nice" for a community rink (especially as it was built in the 70s). There are large seating areas on both (long) sides of the rink, and there's actually a decent number of rows up both sections. In addition, it's all "bucket" seating here (as opposed to most places like this having benches), and several of the sections near center ice have armrests. Outside of the main arena, there's actually a fairly large lobby area as there are three rinks here, and for this game, I'm almost certain the PA announcer was actually the former PA announcer for the New Jersey Devils!

I said that the Wolves were the "operational home team" for this game; this is important for on-ice purposes that I'm not completely clear on (I know it involves the "last change" after stoppages, but I don't exactly know how that works). However...they didn't FEEL like the home team: there were FAR more Danbury fans than Watertown fans (I think there was exactly ONE Wolves jersey in the crowd), the Hat Tricks spent 40 minutes skating circles around the Wolves en route to a 3-1 win, and...

MERCH

At this game, the Hat Tricks (who, let me remind you, are technically the "away" team) had a merch table rinkside which included "game used" jerseys - and I use quotes there because some of the jerseys were probably NOT used in games as they were made for guys who I don't think ever played in a game (a few still had the manufacturer's retail tag). I didn't ask whose idea it was to bring the FPHL to New Jersey, but methinks Danbury was more involved with the planning of this game more than the "home" team...

Also, because I cannot resist a deep dive into jerseys apparently, I went to the online store for EVERY team in the FPHL to see what types of jerseys they sell about a month before this game happened. While not every team sells jerseys online (or at least had jerseys available when I checked), the ones that did were quite "mixed": some teams sell only sublimated jerseys, some teams sell only jerseys with sewn logos, and a few teams sold both!⁶ However, Danbury was the only team who sold "game used" jerseys online (see above for a caveat to that term); there's a distinct possibility that other teams also sell game used jerseys at games, but I have no way of confirming that right now (and given the locations of some of the teams, trips to see them are not super likely).

One final note on merch: Watertown is somewhat odd in that they have a "spirit wear" site as their online store, but they sell jerseys and pucks via a form on their website. I should note, however, that the price for the jersey suggests that it's sublimated.

P.S.: The Pope Leo effect is real - congrats to FREAKIN' FRACKIN' MERRIMACK on winning the 2026 Hockey East Men's Tournament!