Growing up in Beach Park, a town of 14,000 just north of Waukegan, Andrew Strathmann wasn’t surrounded by the most robust hockey culture.
That made his journey to this point — as an 18-year-old defenseman projected to land in the second or third round of the NHL Draft on June 28-29 — particularly challenging and his U.S. Hockey League championship with the Youngstown Phantoms this season particularly rewarding.
