Of all those on The Telegram’s Newfoundlanders Away list, our statistical offering of stats for players from this province playing high-level hockey, perhaps nobody has had a better 2017-18 season than Robyn Foley of the Goulds.
Foley, a third-year defenceman with the Norwich University Cadets, capped off her campaign by helping the Vermont school to its second-ever NCAA Division 3 women’s hockey championship (there is no Division 2 in U.S. college hockey).
Norwich finished with an overall record of 27-1-3 after defeating Elmira 2-1 in the final, played last week in Northfield, Vt., home of the Cadets.
Earlier in the championship tournament, Foley was named an American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) East Region second-team all-American. It was the first ever all-American selection for Foley, who was the only Canadian among the 24 players named East or West Region all-American; the others were all from the United States.
In 31 games this season, Foley — who was also a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) first team all-conference selection — had 24 points on four goals and 20 assists, but her most remarkable stat had to be her team-leading plus-minus rating of plus 55. She was plus-19 in the playoffs alone.
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A couple of other players on the Newfoundlanders Away list with outstanding plus-minus figures were forward Jordan Maher (plus-36) of Gander and St. John’s defenceman Adam Holwell (plus-43), both of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Holwell, an overage defenceman, was tied for third in the league in the category during the regular season, while Maher, who turned 20 two weeks ago, was ninth.
The Titan fashioned a 43-15-10 record to finish first in the Maritimes Division and second overall in the league, making them one of the favourites in the Presidents Cup playoffs, which are just getting underway.
Acadie-Bathurst went 23-5-2 since the start of the new year, a run which pretty much coincided with their trade deadline acquisition of goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick, a St. John’s native.
The 20-year-old Fitzpatrick, a second-round NHL draft pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2016, began the season with the Sherbrooke Phoenix, going 9-9-4, with a 3.48 goals-against average. But after being dealt to the Titan, he was 17–2-1, with a 2.24 GAA.
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Three Newfoundlanders — all from the west coast of the province — finished in the top dozen in scoring in the Maritime Hockey League.
Amherst Ramblers captain Jordan King of Corner Brook (28-50-78) topped his team and was third overall in the junior A circuit, his Ramblers teammate and fellow Corner Brooker Brady Griffin-Hefford (25-32-57) was eighth and South Shore Lumberjacks forward Mateo Short of Black Duck Cove (31-23-54) was 11th in points, but third in goals.
King was named a first-team all-star at centre, while three Newfoundlanders were selections to the league’s all-rookie team. Liam Leonard (Clarenville) of the Edmundston Blizzard and Brent Broaders (Tilting) of the Yarmouth Mariners are forwards on the first-year squad, while Curtis Heffernan (St. John’s) of the Truro Bearcats was one of the choices on defence.
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KIlbride’s Luke Adam is set to return to Adler Mannheim (Mannheim Eagles) of the DEL, Germany’s elite league, for a third season.
The 27-year-old centre-winger recently signed an extension with the team.
In 2017-18, Adam had 12 goals and 27 assists in 50 games (regular-season and Champions league) for Mannheim, which he joined in 2016 after splitting his first six professional season between the AHL (342 games) and NHL (90 games).
He had 15 goals and 35 points with Mannheim last season.
