September 30, 2013  American Beauty: Tommy Williams  Head back
to 1962. The Boston Bruins have a slick speedster and a talented
scorer on their right wing. Number 11 is just a rookie, but he
goes on to a lengthy NHL career thanks to his versatility. He
can play all three forward positions and move up and down the
lines.  But it is amazing he made the NHL at all. Tommy
Williams, you see, is from Duluth, Minnesota. And that made him
the only American born and trained player in the National Hockey
League at the time.  Nowadays we are seeing Americans from even
the sunniest states skate in the NHL. Back then there were a lot
of reasons as to why Americans had not entered the NHL world
back then.  Some believed NHL owners conspired to have only
Canadian players. Others said American parents preferred their
children get college educations, a route many of today's NHL
hopefuls still pass on. Others correctly pointed out that at the
time there just was not enough ice time and competition for many
American players to