Looking for stability: Ethan McEneany
Ethan McEneany has had a career that’s anything but traditional.
Unlike the usual stick-in-hand-since-birth story, he did not start playing hockey until age eight. Even with the late start, he quickly grew out of his hometown, Tacoma, Wash.
“[Hockey] is kind of like my first love. I kind of got addicted to it. I just kept playing ever since I stepped on,” McEneany said. “Washington didn’t have the best hockey, and I just wanted to make it as far as possible.”
His search for better hockey brought him to Colorado, where he played Tier 1 AAA youth hockey. From 2020 to 2023, McEneany played for the Colorado Thunderbirds, the top AAA team in the state, which has alumni in the NHL like the Carolina Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin and the St. Louis Blues’ Brandon Carlo.
After an impressive 54-point season with the 16U Thunderbirds in 2023-24, McEneany seemed poised for a path to Juniors. His 54 points drew the attention of the Western Hockey League, one of North America’s three major junior leagues.
“I grew up with season tickets to WHL games, so that was kind of my dream,” McEneany said.
Although his hometown Seattle Thunderbirds didn’t draft him, their cross-border rival, the Vancouver Giants, selected him in the 10th round with the 211th pick.
With the Giants, he saw little ice time, only playing in 13 games in two years. McEneany was limited in what should have been a dream situation.
“I had a lot of injuries. I had a couple concussions. I broke both my collarbones,” he said. “ I played when I was 16 and I came back when I was like 18, and then I was a little old for [the WHL].”
Players in the WHL have to be between 16 and 20, so McEneany looked elsewhere for his sixth season. That search brought him to the North American Hockey League, a Junior A league just below the WHL.
“[The NAHL] was gritty, a lot of physicality,” McEneany noted. “I picked up a lot of penalty minutes in the NAHL, but it was fun.”
In 2024-25, McEneany picked up 122 penalty minutes in 30 games. After four games in the NAHL in 2025, he moved on to the National Collegiate Development Conference, where he finished the 2025-26 season. The NCDC was not the league for him, and he was looking for another league yet again.
A familiar face helped his search.
“Brick [Fisher] is my best friend, I’d say,” McEneany mentioned. “ We grew up playing against each other. We played on the same team when we were 15.”
Fisher and the Colorado Buffaloes were coming off of a conference-winning season that ended one game shy of nationals. Joining a strong team with his best friend was enough for McEneany.
Joining the Buffs in the American Collegiate Hockey Association wasn’t a step up for him, but it's a league where he feels comfortable.
“[The ACHA] feels a little bit slower, which is nice,” McEneany said. “It’s just fun. I’ve kind of found my love for the game again.”
McEneany has fit right in with the team in his first season. Eight games in, he is tied for the team lead in points with 13 and leads the Buffs in assists with eight.
His impact is felt across the team.
“With him playing across the WHL, the NAHL, and the NCDC, he gained a lot of experience,” head coach Chris Stevenson said. “Him being older, coming into school, it's been valuable in the room, on the ice, and on the bench.”
McEneany, Stevenson and the whole CU team have high hopes as they sit atop the Big Mountain Hockey Conference. The team is eyeing not only another conference champions banner, but something even bigger.
“I think we could win a national championship if we stick to how we’re playing right now and keep getting better every day,” McEneany said.
Stevenson believes McEneany will be a big help to get the Buffs to St. Louis for ACHA nationals.
“I think a guy as competitive as him with a scoring pedigree. That plays a huge role. Getting a player like that, at any level on any team, it's going to help you out,” Stevenson said. “ I think him, along with a lot of the other guys, it's a tight-knit group. We brought in a lot of guys with good Junior experience. We're looking to make the push for Natties, and we expect to be there.”
Whether or not a trip to St. Louis is in store for McEneany and the Buffs, Boulder is the place he wants to be.
“I love Boulder. It’s a great campus. It’s a good school too,” McEneany said. “Everyone is super cool here. It’s like a community.”
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