Goaltender Nic Renyard of Victoria, a portrait of persistence, has been named the RBC CJHL national Junior A hockey player of the year.
After going 8-5 with the Victoria Grizzlies in 2013-14, Renyard was cut by the Grizzlies in training camp last September, and waived through the B.C. Hockey League without any team bothering to pick him up.
That hardly sounded like the start of a 2014-15 season that would end in winning a national award previously hoisted by the likes of future NHLers Paul Kariya, Dany Heatley, Kyle Turris, Joe Colborne, Jeff Tambellini and Mike Comrie.
But a connection Grizzlies assistant coach Scott Hawthorn had with an assistant coach of the Okotoks Oilers, led Renyard on an unlikely quest to the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The rest, as they say, will go down in Junior A hockey lore.
“I never gave up . . . I always knew I was good enough to play,” said Renyard, after completing his shift Monday in his summer job as lawn/field mower for the Greater Victoria school district.
As an over-age 20 year old in his final year of junior eligibility, Renyard’s choices were quickly narrowing. Then, lightning struck.
“Going to Alberta was a good decision. It really worked out. Just getting an opportunity to play was the biggest thing,” said Renyard, whose well-travelled BCHL career included brief stints with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and Langley Rivermen and 20 games with the Penticton Vees.
That may be the understatement of the junior hockey season, as Renyard went 30-8-3 for the Oilers with a 2.19 goals-against average and .924 save percentage to also be named Canadian Junior A goaltender of the year. It certainly got him noticed, and he is now on his way to play at UMass-Amherst this fall in the U.S. collegiate NCAA Div. 1.
“I’ll be facing some future NHLers [in the NCAA] . . . it’s very exciting,” said Renyard, who played three season in the B.C. Major Midget League for the South Island Thunderbirds (now Royals).
And don’t worry about the classroom. Renyard, who also played basketball and rugby at Reynolds, was a straight-A honours student and will study business and kinesiology at UMass-Amherst. Education is stressed in the family. Renyard’s mother, Tammy, is the vice-principal at Spectrum and education adviser for the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League
Asked to describe his style, the five-foot-11, 170-pound Renyard says he channels Jonathan Quick.
“I’m not big, so I try to be as fast as possible, read the play and battle for the puck.”
And battling is something Renyard knows a thing or two about.
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