It was a monumental moment last weekend for a trio of hockey players from Newfoundland and Labrador who will be playing U.S. university hockey on scholarship starting next season.
Abby Newhook and Matt McKim of St. John’s, and Ryan Greene of Paradise all signed letters of intent to join NCAA Division I programs in the United States for the 2021-22 hockey season.
Newhook, 17, is set to join her brother, Alex, at Boston College.
McKim is heading off to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and Greene will play at Boston University.
Newhook is currently at Tabor Academy prep school in Marion, Mass., south of Boston, where she’s spent the past three years.
Carmen Elliott of Stephenville, who earlier signed her Letter of Intent, will begin her first year at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. starting next fall. Shailynn Snow of Bay Roberts is about to begin her second year at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.
Greene spent two seasons playing prep school hockey at Connecticut’s South Kent School, and last year joined the Green Bay, Wisc. Gamblers of the United States Hockey League. The USHL is a Tier I junior circuit in the United States which is a breeding ground for future NCAA players.
In prep school play last year, before COVID-19 ended the season, Greene averaged just over a point per game, and registered three goals and five points in 18 USHL games.
He’s back with the Gamblers again this year, before joining the BU Terriers.
McKim is the son of Andrew McKim, a former NHLer and St. John's Maple Leafs AHL all-star. He is currently in his second season with the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior A Hockey League, with one goal in two games.
He was eighth overall in league scoring last season, with 85 points in 57 games.
McKim will not be the first Newfoundlander to play for Alaska-Fairbanks. That was Cape Broyle native Jamie Coady, who was with the Nanooks from 1996-99.
Alaska-Fairbanks has had a dozen alumni who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including St. Louis Blues defenceman Colton Parayko.
Other Newfoundlanders currently playing NCAA DI hockey are goalie Zack Rose of Paradise, who is in his second year with Bowling Green University, and Gander’s Adam Dawe, who is a second-year forward with the University of Maine Black Bears.
Mark Hillier of Labrador City will join NCAA DI Merrimack College next season. Merrimack is just outside Boston.
He is playing for the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League, a junior A circuit. Alex Newhook and McKim also played in the BCHL.
