The island located 6 miles off the coast of mainland Massachusetts is known to the outside world for its posh summers, but to the locals the winter is all about hockey.
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School's boys varsity high school hockey program is the subject of the NHL's new documentary "Hockey Island: Martha's Vineyard."
Filmed in December, the documentary chronicles the lead-up to the Vineyard's season opener against mainland rival Whitman-Hanson.
One of the biggest challenges for the Vineyard program is that a 45-minute ferry ride is the only way on and off the island. The team will travel over 1,148 miles by land and sea this season.
"The passion and love that these kids and the community showed for the sport was something we haven't seen before and especially in a place where you don't expect people to be playing hockey," said NHL Studios vice president of digital content production Paul Vinciguerra about the documentary.
For the Vineyard's opponents, they see the trip to the island as a great bonding opportunity for their team.
"The initial idea was that visiting teams having to go through the ferry trip and through an island, to do all that travel it would be detrimental to their preparation, but what we found out from the Whitman-Hanson team coach and even from the Martha's Vineyard coach that most these teams going through that trip is a bonding experience," said NHL senior producer Will Cunningham. "So, it's not so much daunting, but something to kind of look forward to doing and is beneficial for teams that go on that trip."
The documentary also highlights the local community's passion for their program and how they rally around the team, breaking down the stereotypes of the residents on the island.
"As you see in the piece all the people who are there, a majority of the people who are there year-round they're just regular blue-collar people, middle-class people who live normal regular lives like the rest of us except they are on an island that has two very different faces and that they love hockey in the winter," Cunningham said.
"Hockey Island: Martha's Vineyard" is now streaming on
