Fort Worth hockey player returns home to chase pro dreams
When Laura first met Michael Hill, she knew nothing about hockey.
Little did she know, she would soon embark on a roller coaster ride through five states, married to a college hockey player from Fort Worth with ambitions of a professional career.
This week the destination was back to Texas in support of Michael as he participated in the Dallas Stars’ development camp at the Dr Pepper StarCenter Frisco.
“We could live out of a suitcase at this point,” Laura Hill said. “I think we’re professional packers.”
It’s been a way of life for Michael since he was young.
Originally born in California, Hill idolized Wayne Gretzky, which in turn got him out on the ice.
His father Gary, who worked for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, took a job in Houston when Michael was near high school age, but they soon found the level of hockey in South Texas was not on par with Michael’s development.
While transfer requests weren’t usually observed at Gary’s job until employees had worked for 18 months, he submitted a request and it was honored, sending the Hills to Fort Worth.
“Michael was getting recruited by teams in the Metroplex and he really wanted to come here, but I really wasn’t ready to let him go live with another family,” Gary said.
Michael was home-schooled through high school, but lived in the area that fed into Fort Worth Western Hills High School, he said. He joined the Alliance Hockey Club and the Dallas Stars AAA select team, playing along side Justin Jones, older brother of Nashville Predators defender Seth Jones and the son of former Dallas Maverick Popeye Jones.
“I think it’s a blooming place for hockey players,” Michael said. “I think we have four or five here at the camp this year and every single guy has great potential. It’s amazing just seeing Dallas kids stick up with the rest of the world.”
After high school, Michael spent two seasons with the Topeka RoadRunners of the North American Hockey League, where he met Laura, a Topeka native.
When the time came for him to honor his commitment to play at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, he knew he didn’t want to live the college hockey life and try to balance a long-distance relationship.
“I found the right woman,” he said. “I can’t thank God enough for her. Once I found her, I knew that I didn’t want to date anyone else.”
The two were married when Michael was 21 and Laura was 20 and they both headed off to Alaska together.
That’s when the traveling really began.
After a redshirt season in Fairbanks, Michael transferred St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn., before the 2012-13 season, where he scored 24 points in 20 games.
He and his family then moved to De Pere, Wis., and St. Norbert College. In two seasons playing for the Green Knights, Hill recorded 67 points in 52 games.
With one season remaining in his college career, Michael’s hockey future is up in the air. He either signs with a minor league team and tries to work his way through the ranks to the NHL, or hangs up the skates for good and puts his degree in management and human resources to use.
Either way, both Michael and Laura were quick to point out that Fort Worth would always be the young family’s home base.
“When we talk about home, it’s Texas,” Laura said. “It’s become my home too and [10-month-old daughter] Johanna’s home. The Fort Worth area is definitely our home. It’s God’s country.”
With all the opportunities that surround the invite to development camp, it was seeing his wife and daughter in the stands at the StarCenter in Frisco that made the experience worthwhile.
“I don’t think they stopped smiling when they saw me,” he said. “To see them like that, it was really awesome.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2015 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Fort Worth hockey player returns home to chase pro dreams."