He loves living in Newfoundland, fans in Newfoundland love him and so does his coach.
So it makes sense the Newfoundland Growlers are bringing back Todd Skrving for a third season.
On Thursday, the Growlers announced they have signed the 28-year-old forward from Thunder Bay, Ont., to a third straight ECHL contract, meaning he joins team captain James Melindy of Goulds as players who will be members of the Growlers roster from the inaugural campaign still with the team whenever the 2020-21 ECHL season begins.
"He’s probably one of the best people I’ve ever come across in the game." — Growlers head coach John Snowden on Todd Skirving
Skirving’s stats don’t jump off the page — 14 goals and 20 assists in 107 ECHL games with Orlando, Utah, Atlanta and Newfoundland, including a 7-12-19 line in 63 games with the Growlers.
However, Newfoundland head coach John Snowden says you are using the using the wrong method if you measure the 6-2, 185-pound winger by his stats.
“He’s probably one of the best people I’ve ever come across in the game,“ said Snowden in a team release. “He’s a glue guy in the room. He’s a voice. He’s the fun. He’s the help for young kids who are in their first year of pro.
“He brings his game every single night. He brings energy.”
Skirving’s impact was also felt in the community, where he was the bearded face of the Growlers’ community efforts and involved in countless causes, including Canadian Blood Services’ Hockey Gives Blood campaign, the Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre and the Ronald McDonald House.
For those efforts, Skirving was named the club’s Equinor Community Player of the Year in the Growlers’ first two seasons.
“I am grateful to have the opportunity to return to Newfoundland. It has become like a second home to me … there is no place I would rather be,” said Skirving in the team release.
Because the 2019-20 ECHL season was cut short by the COIVID-19 pandemic, the Growlers remain the defending league champions, but Skirving says their success in the abbreviated ’19-20 campaign, when they set a league record for consecutive home-ice win, has them anxious to get back to work on the ice, even though there is expected to be a major turnover elsewhere on the roster.
“We have unfinished business coming into a new season,” he said. “The Kelly Cup is still ours to lose and our goal of keeping it will not change. I’m excited and patiently waiting to get the go-ahead for our return.”
