Not 24 hours after winning the Memorial Cup, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s first Canadian junior hockey championship, Adam Holwell and a couple of teammates and fellow Newfoundlanders were already being treated to freebees normally reserved for celebrities.
“Me, (Zack) Bennett and Fizty (Evan Fitzpatrick) were just at McDonald’s,” Holwell said Monday evening, shortly after the team arrived home in New Brunswick.
“Free meal, too.”
Holwell and the rest of the Titan players should get ready to be feted like rock stars in small-town Bathurst, after they beat the Regina Pats 3-0 Sunday night in the Memorial Cup final in Regina, Sask.
It's the first time since 2013 that a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team has captured the trophy first awarded in 1919.
Holwell, from St. John’s, scored the first goal – and what would turn out to be the game-winner – while Fitzpatrick, from St. John’s but now living in Lower Sackville, N.S., stopped 28 shots for the shutout. Jordan Maher of Gander also dressed for the Titan. Rookie defenceman Bennett of Bay Roberts appeared in two regular-season games for the Titan after coming over from the Drummondville Voltigeurs in a trade.
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Bennett was on the Titan’s taxi squad during the playoffs, or the group of practice players.
One of the Titan’s top-scoring defenceman through the regular season (10-40-50 in 67 games), just behind top prospect Noah Dobson, who will be a top 10 or 12 NHL draft pick in June, Holwell can expect better than a couple of free burgers in the off-season.
An undrafted free agent, he will receive some pro offers. His Montreal-based agent, Chad Levitt, is already fielding some inquiries.
And, of course, the first thing which comes to mind is the new ECHL team in his hometown, the Newfoundland Growlers.
“Whatever decision I make, it will be a hockey decision, not one factored on playing at home.”
Adam Holwell
“That would be exciting, a dream of anyone to play pro in their hometown,” said the 21-year-old, who played this past season as an overager. “And especially for someone from Newfoundland, because there are not that many pros.
“It’s been a long time since I played any meaningful games back home (as a first-year, 14-year-old bantam all-star; he played his second year of bantam and midget hockey in Ontario).
“That said, I’m pushing for more, and if it means an AHL contract, well, I think any player would admit that’s what they want,” he said. “Whatever decision I make, it will be a hockey decision, not one factored on playing at home.”
If Holwell turns pro, he won’t be the only Newfoundlander on the Titan to do so. Fitzpatrick, a second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2016, has already signed an NHL entry-level deal and is set to turn pro in the fall.
Maher, who was traded to the Halifax Mooseheads a day after the Memorial Cup win (see accompanying story), will quite likely return to junior hockey as an overager next year with the Mooseheads, who are set to play host to the Memorial Cup tournament.
Holwell’s junior career began in 2013, when he was drafted in the third round, 44th overall, by the Moncton Wildcats. He spent three full seasons with the Wildcats, and split last season between Moncton and Bathurst.
He’s been a dependable contributor throughout his junior career, missing only a handful of games in each of his five seasons.
He was passed over in the draft, scouts suggest, because of his size (he falls short of six-feet) and lack of overall quickness.
But Holwell was a favourite in Bathurst, one of the first team captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel called on to carry the Memorial Cup after the trophy presentation in Regina.
“It’s crazy the way it worked out,” he said. “Winning your last junior game for the Memorial Cup, and scoring the winning goal.
“Even now, a day later, it’s hard to comprehend. I can’t wait to get home and watch the whole game on PVR.”
But first Holwell has to take care of a little bit of business – hacking off that dandy playoff beard, one which rivals a Brent Burn or Joe Thornton special.
“This thing will be gone tomorrow,” he laughed.
Holwell, Fitzpatrick, Maher and Bennett – with whom Holwell will drive home to Newfoundland Wednesday - join a select group of Newfoundland and Labrador hockey players to win the Memorial Cup. The others are Bob Dean of Botwood (in 1962 with the Ontario league’s Hamilton Red Wings), Kevin Neville of Corner Brook (1973, OHL’s Toronto Marlboros), Chad Penney of Labrador City (1993, OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds), Jonathan Boone of Bell Island (1999, OHL’s Ottawa 67s) and Andrew Ryan of Paradise (2013, QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads) in that fraternity.
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