Boston University sophomore defenseman Charlie McAvoy talks about his hockey career almost as if it were a community project.

He grew up in Long Beach, N.Y., a small town on a barrier island off Long Island’s South Shore, with the Atlantic Ocean lapping against one side of town and the Reynolds Channel on the other. Should be all about the beach and the surf, right?

But Long Beach was once the practice home of the New York Rangers, and though they left in 1978, they left behind a tight-knit hockey community of Ranger fans. Then the Bruins selected McAvoy this year in the first round (14th overall) of the NHL Draft. Bruins flags went up around town, and folks he didn’t know came up to shake his hand.

“The support has been really, really good throughout this whole draft thing, or when I made the national team or when I committed [to BU],’’ McAvoy said this week as the Terriers prepared to open their season Saturday at Colgate. “The supports speaks a lot to Long Beach as a community.’’

McAvoy’s father, Charlie Sr., was a hockey guy; he started taking his son to the little studio rink at the local arena when he was about 3. It was only around the block from home, and as the building’s plumbing and heating contractor, Dad had the keys.

Are you kidding? Keys to the rink? Christmas every day for a hockey player.

“Charlie and I would go up every night, whenever he wanted to go,’’ said McAvoy Sr. “I would come home from work, and if he wasn’t taking a nap, at 3 and 4 years old, we’d be going over to the rink and getting out there, with sticks, and just getting him going.’’

“Once I realized how much I loved it,’’ McAvoy said, “it became a family thing. It was obviously good for my development.’’

Coach knew right away

McAvoy, who committed to BU when he was 15, still has the innocent look of a teenager, except that at 6 feet 1 inch and 206 pounds, he has the physique of a rugged defenseman. And a little bit of snarl.

Evidence of that came in USA Hockey’s National Junior Evaluation Camp in August, when McAvoy laid a big-time hit on Canada’s Lawson Crouse, a 6-4, 215-pound Coyotes prospect, and the video quickly crashed across the Internet. In another game, he ran over Sweden’s Andreas Wingerli.

“He may not be shaving every day yet,’’ said NHL director of Central Scouting Dan Marr, “but body structure-wise, you look from the neck down to the ankle, he’s got the Raymond Bourque frame.’’

McAvoy, a right shot, brings an all-around game to the Terriers. As BU coach David Quinn pointed out, nothing is missing; he can skate, he can shoot, he can handle the puck, he can think his way through the game.

Marr agreed.

“He’s a very dynamic skater, very fluid with his speed and his agility, and he’s got a strong game with the puck,’’ said Marr. “His hockey sense is for real, but what he also has is that physical package, that he can play with a little bit of an edge to where he’s not easy to play against.’’

Quinn knew as soon as he saw McAvoy as a ninth-grader playing in a summer tournament in Foxborough that he wanted him for the Terriers.

“I knew right away he was special,’’ Quinn said. “You know in college hockey, we’re trying to stop ourselves from signing 15-year-olds, but Charlie made it an easy decision.’’

McAvoy spent two years with the National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. Making his college choice so early allowed him to focus on developing his game there.

“I knew it was going to be hockey hockey hockey, so to get that commitment and that part of my life decided was good for me,’’ he said. “So once I got out there, it was all development.

“It kind of feels like a blink: I was stepping into Ann Arbor and now I’m stepping into my second year at BU. That four-year swing felt like a snap of my fingers.’’

Expecting big things

As a freshman, McAvoy was paired with BU captain Matt Grzelcyk, also a Bruins prospect. At 17, McAvoy was the youngest player in college hockey, but it hardly mattered: He led BU defensemen in scoring with 3 goals and 22 assists and a plus-10 rating.

“What’s special about Charlie is his ability to play both ends of the ice so well,’’ said Grzelcyk, now a first-year pro with the Providence Bruins. “He’s got a great ability to use his body to shield defenders away and extend plays by using his skating ability.

“I think over the course of last season he was able to showcase his game after playing a more simple game and allowing his skills to take over from there. He added more physical play and I think that in turn gave him more confidence as the year went on.’’

“The year he had as a freshman, that’s not easy, being the youngest player in college hockey,’’ Quinn said, “and he handled it well.’’

Though BU is now stuffed with wunderkinds (four first-round draft picks, including McAvoy), McAvoy remains committed to developing his game, taking advantage of Quinn’s tutelage, to prepare for the next step.

“[Quinn] helped me realize how to even play the offensive side of the game, from what I thought I was doing correctly, to how you do it at the next level,’’ he said. “And he helped me realize that defense comes first; at the end of the day, I am a defenseman.’’

The new season is generating a lot of buzz on Commonwealth Ave.

“There’s excitement of how good of a team we have on paper,’’ McAvoy said. “Obviously it’s one thing to be good on paper and then to translate it into a game, but the way things are going right now, the kind of practices we’re having, the kind of camaraderie we have in the room right now, it’s exciting and hopefully it can translate on the ice right away here.

“Starting Saturday we can start winning some games.’’

Still only 18, he has been sure of his path for what seems like a long time. The NHL is on the horizon.

“He was a leader from the start, confident in his abilities,’’ said Quinn, who acknowledged that “the chances of him playing all four years of college are not high.’’

If the NHL comes calling, Quinn won’t stop him.

“When it’s time to go, it’s time to go,’’ he said.

The Bruins support his decision to stay in college. For now.

“It’s just a day-at-a-time thing, for me it’s just all about development,’’ McAvoy said. “I want to be able to come in and make a splash right away when I’m signed with the Bruins.’’

His old partner Grzelcyk expects a great season from McAvoy.

“He’ll be on the ice for all key situations,’’ Grzelcyk said. “He really had a great summer and worked his tail off in the weight room to become stronger and even faster on the ice. I’m really excited to watch him have a breakout year. I know he’s ready for the challenge.’’

The challenge for BU is to blend its super-talented freshman class into the mix, and go after trophies again. Last year, Denver knocked the Terriers out of the NCAAs, Lowell ousted them from Hockey East, and archrival Boston College claimed the Beanpot in overtime.

“The Beanpot was one of the best experiences I’ve had,’’ said McAvoy, a New Yorker now a convert to all things Boston. “Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of it.

“This year we’re coming back.’’