The opportunity to spend the remainder of the winter in delightful Victoria, B.C. has proven to be too appealing for hockey player Kyle McGrath.
Well, that and the chance to play with the province’s best young player, and certain NHL draft pick.
McGrath, the former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player, leaves St. John’s next week to join the Victoria Grizzlies for the second half of the 2018-19 British Columbia Hockey League season.
The Grizzlies’ captain is 17-year-old Alex Newhook of St. John’s, who is touted to go in the first round of the NHL draft in June. As well, goaltender Zach Rose of Paradise, just back from a lengthy stint on injured reserve following off-season shoulder surgery, is also a member of the Grizzlies.
McGrath, 19, spent last season with the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles following an outstanding major midget career with the St. John’s Maple Leafs.
After he was waived by the Screaming Eagles at training camp last fall — there were no takers — McGrath appeared in one junior A pre-season game with the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s Valley Wildcats.
But his heart wasn’t into it, and McGrath came home where he joined the St. John’s Caps of the city’s junior B circuit.
Shortly after his story was told in The Telegram in November, Victoria coach and GM Craig Didmon reached out to McGrath, the former major midget scoring champ, playoff MVP, and MVP of the 2017 Atlantic championship.
“It was too good of an opportunity to pass up,” McGrath said. “When you get a chance to play with someone like Alex, who’s also one of my good buddies, in an awesome city like Victoria, you can’t pass that up.
“I had planned on being away from home all season anyway,” he said, “so I’ll do a semester at MUN online, and I’ll see where this takes me. I’ll give it one last kick.”
The Grizzlies lead their division with a 23-12-0-1 record, and Newhook is the BCHL scoring leader with 19 goals and 40 assists in 33 games.
Rose, the MVP and top goalie at the 2017 World Junior A Challenge, played his first game of the season just before New Years, stopping 27 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Nanaimo Clippers.
The BCHL is a breeding ground for future NCAA players, and both Newhook and Rose are destined to the U.S. collegiate ranks next season — Newhook to Boston College and Rose to Ohio’s Bowling Green University.
Teams from the B.C. loop have won five of the last 10 RBC Cup Canadian junior A championships.
“I’ve heard it’s the best junior A league in Canada,” McGrath said. “It’s a speed and skill oriented league, so I’m really excited to go out there and see how I stack up against these guys.”
After playing one season and a bit in the QMHL — he had six points in 33 games last season — the NCAA route is all but closed to McGrath, save for a lengthy and far-from-guaranteed appeals process.
However, depending on what he does the remainder of this season, there is a chance he could catch the eye of some top western U Sports programs such as UBC, University of Alberta or University of Saskatchewan.
“If I go out there and have a little bit of success, hopefully that will be an option,” he said. “But really, I’m just going out there focused on this season, and maybe help them win a few games and get on a run.”
