Interview
Sarah: Why don’t you talk about your family, your home, where you grew up, hockey.
Jesse: I was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts, which is a town about eight miles southwest of Boston. I lived there until I was six, when I moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, which is right outside of New York City. We moved there because of my father’s job. I lived there until about 13, and we moved back to Massachusetts where we lived in Needham, which is right next to Wellesley, in the same exact neighborhood where I lived before. We moved back to keep the family together so my sister and I could attend prep school and play high level hockey, and so we wouldn’t have to move away. My parents are Wendy and Fred Lane. I have a 14 year old sister, Liza, who is very good at hockey and she used to be a world class rider. She plays boy’s AAA hockey. She recently just turned 15, and hopefully some day she will make the Olympic team. She is that good.
Sarah: Is she?
Jesse: Yep.
Sarah: Does she have college plans?
Jesse: Yeah, she will probably end up going to Harvard or UNH, the top two women’s teams. She is actually being talked to by a few colleges. Right in this period now, she is trying out for the women’s national team Under 18 team in Lake Placid. I wish her luck.
My mom went to Wellesley College. Then she attended Harvard Business School. My father went to Harvard College where he met her his junior year. Then he went to Harvard Business School, where he was on two national teams. On the second year of his national team, right before the competition, he broke his collar bone in a bike accident. So that was unfortunate for him, but everything worked out, I guess.
Sarah: So why did you start playing hockey?
Jesse: I can’t really remember. My parents tell me I saw my cousin skating on the lake and I told them I was interested. I was actually nine years old when I started playing in clinics. I started clinic in the spring. I think it was March of whatever year when I was nine years old, I guess 1991. I had my parents sign me up to try out for the A team. There is an A and a B team, and if you don’t make either of those, then you play the house league. I actually made the A team. I got lucky, I guess. Ever since there, I got on a better A team after that. Then I started playing AAA hockey and really got more involved. Then I went to the prep school and played prep school hockey and started playing Junior hockey. That led to where I am today.
Sarah: Okay.
Jesse: Is that too much?
Sarah: No, no. That is great. What is the best thing about being a Buc for you?
Jesse: The best thing about being a Buc is all the scouting out here. This is like the most scouted amateur league in the world. It is really great. It’s a stepping stone for college. I guess they even let one kid play professional right out of the Bucs, so it is a great stepping stone. I also like that the Bucs are really rich in tradition. This thing has been going for 20 years. The community support is really great, and it’s a wonderful thing. You know, you are treated as a celebrity, which is great.
Sarah: You are obviously going to school here. How does that interfere with hockey?
Jesse: I actually go to Dowling, which is a Catholic high school. I am a junior so I will graduate next year. Dowling and both the Bucs have been really great. They have worked around my schedule. I leave after my second period class, which is usually around 9:45, and then I come back at 12:30 after practice. Practice is anywhere from 10:00 to 11:15 or 10:30 to 12:00. Usually I can get out and get a bite to eat before I go back to school. As long as I can go have lunch, it’s no big deal. When I come back next year, I will probably be attending Dowling again. I really like it.
Sarah: Okay, then I won’t ask the question I was going to ask.
Jesse: What was the question you were going to ask?
Sarah: I was going to ask if there was a possibility of you not coming back.
Jesse: Oh no, I should be coming back as far as I know. Last summer I thought I was going to be going back to my old team. I mean, this is the highest level of amateur hockey I can play, so this is the next stepping stone for me. I need to get a year of schooling so I should be back.
Sarah: Did you have a choice to go to Dowling or Valley?
Jesse: Not really. Mostly, I went to Valley and my mom was upset because they couldn’t work my courses out. Education is a real priority in my family and I would have ended up taking some half courses. So we went to Dowling, which is a better fit for me coming from a prep school and everything worked out great. So that’s where I ended up.
Sarah: I have known that other players have gone there.
Jesse: Mostly the other players that have gone there have been the local players, the Krueger brothers. I think I am the only outsider to ever go there, except for maybe Christian Laden, I don’t really know though. But not very many go there.
Sarah: There was another one that went there.
Jesse: I think they try to encourage players to go to Valley, but my parents just liked Dowling better and it works out fine, so they have no problem with it as long as we like it.
Sarah: Yeah, I think it is a good choice. What about college plans?
Jesse: Well, I am obviously looking at a lot of colleges. A lot of it depends on whether they’re interested in me also because I clearly want to play Division I hockey. On my list, I would say, are Harvard, Yale, BC, Notre Dame, Maine, UNH, a lot of Eastern schools. That is about it.
Sarah: So you want to stay in the East?
Jesse: Yeah, I would like to stay in the East. I think my parents would like to have me stay in the East, too. So whatever they want is fine. I mean, I really like the Eastern schools. It seems like a good fit, and I like the East Coast.
Sarah: Any embarrassing moments?
Jesse: Well, I have been known to make a fool of myself, but I can’t really remember any real embarrassing moments because I don’t have a problem with making a fool of myself.
Sarah: Hobbies.
Jesse: Hobbies, all right. Most of my hobbies have to do with athletics. I like playing squash, skiing, lacrosse.
Sarah: What was that?
Jesse: Squash.
Sarah: What is that?
Jesse: It’s kind of like racquetball played indoors. It is pretty intense. It is played with little racquets in an area and you have to hit the ball. It is a little rubber ball about the size of a mini, mini tennis ball. You hit the rubber ball above a line. If you hit below the line, you are out. There are certain requirements. The ball can only bounce once and you can bank it off walls but you can’t hit above a certain line also. It is kind of hard to explain, but it’s played indoors.
Sarah: I have never heard of it.
Jesse: It is mostly played in New York City. I like to play tennis, lacrosse. I am a little disappointed there is no lacrosse out here, but you know, I will live. I like to ski a lot. If I wasn’t playing for the Bucs, I would be skiing a lot more. It’s just one of those things you have to give up. I am also really excited about going to race car driving school this summer.
Sarah: Really?
Jesse: Yeah, and I am really looking forward to that.
Sarah: What do want to tell the fans?
Jesse: What do I want to tell the fans? I would like to tell the fans thanks for a great year, and I hope you guys will continue supporting the teams in the future because you sure did a great job with our team. It is really great to have you on our side.
Sarah: Is there anything else you want to say?
Jesse: I would like to thank my family for all their support, and the housing family here has been really great. I would like to thank my parents and sister for making this all possible.
To 1999-00 Roster
Special thanks to Lisa Sheehy for transcribing this interview.
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