Seeking justice (and hockey) in Nebraska
One-time Canuck Ryan Donovan is studying (and playing) at Midland University
Ryan Donovan has long wanted to carry on a family tradition and embark on a career in law enforcement.
While the 21-year-old Niagara Falls native is eager to follow in the footsteps of his father, Shawn, an officer with Niagara Regional Police, he is in no rush to begin patrolling the beat.
First, he wants to earn a degree in criminal justice from Midland University in Fremont, Neb.
After that, he would like to have the opportunity to play hockey at the professional level.
Donovan opted to become a student-athlete at the school in eastern Nebraska after two seasons in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League with the Niagara Falls Canucks. What tipped the scales in Midland’s favour was his impression of Jason Cirone, head coach of the Warriors, and of the university itself.
“He’s a great guy and he showed me so much about the school. Before I even came down to visit, I was pretty set on coming here,” Donovan said in an interview from Fremont.
“I just kind of felt that coming to Midland and having Jason Cirone, and all the connections he has, I would have a better opportunity for me to further my future in hockey, whether it’s going to Europe or coaching.”
He came down for a campus visit in late December 2019.
“I met the guys and saw the school. Everyone was great. It made my decision really easy on my future here and the memories that I want to make,” Donovan said.
He described Fremont, a city of about 27,000 people, as “very slow.”
“It’s very calm here. Even though it’s a big university town, there are a lot of students in Fremont, there’s not too much to do around here,” said the son of Shawn and Kim Donovan. “We’re only 20 minutes away from Omaha if we want to do anything.
“I like it here a lot. It’s very calm here.”
Donovan became ineligible to take the Division 1 route and qualify for an athletic scholarship after playing in 10 exhibition games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His education at Midland is being offset by international scholarships and financial awards that students coming from abroad can receive.
Donovan arrived in Fremont in mid-august and is living off-campus with team captain Luke Sanko, who is from Windsor, and Ondrej
Blaha, a fellow freshman who is from the Czech Republic.
So far, Canada has been far more successful than the United States at containing the spread of COVID-19. Donovan admitted thinking about that when he went south of the border to continue his schooling.
“I was really worried about going on airplanes, but I did my research and, fortunately, Fremont, Nebraska, was, at the time I was coming down here, not a hot spot,” he said.
But that has since changed. In the past two weeks, cases have been spiking, causing the Midland men’s hockey team to “lose some games” to teams in the National Association’s Intercollegiate Athletics’ Great Plains Athletic Conference through pulling out.
“Now we’re just playing two or three teams outside of our conference because the athletic director had to cut out so many games because of the travel and staying in the hotels,” Donovan said. “Just how high the risk of catching COVID is right now.”
Donovan’s route from his family home in Niagara Falls to Gale Centre, the Canucks’ home in Niagara Falls, was anything but a straight line. After making his junior B career with the Welland Jr. Canadians, the six-foot, 183-pound, lefthanded shot spent the 2017-18 season in the Central Canada Hockey League with the Hawkesbury, Ont., Hawks and the Nepean Raiders.
He found himself the victim of a numbers game at the London Knights training camp in 2018.
“I still needed some more development,” he said.
At the London camp, he met up with future Niagara Falls teammate Matthew Riva, who got him into contact with Canucks owner-head coach Frank Pietrangelo.
“Frank gave me a call and assured me I was going to be happy playing for the Canucks, and I was. I was very happy playing my two years there,” Donovan said. “He very much helped me with my development and the way I look at things in hockey.”
His experience playing hockey in eastern Ontario made the transition to leave his home for Nebraska “very easy.”
“In the hockey world, these hockey guys are just so accepting. They’re always about getting everyone involved,” he said. “They make everything so easy.
“I just feel like there’s no time to think about going back home. It’s all hockey, meeting friends.”
Donovan appreciates that hockey players, like all student-athletes at Midland, need to maintain at least a 75 per cent average in their classes. He has no problem with that.
“Now that I’m at school, it’s all about hockey and school,” he said. “I don’t really have time to think about being homesick and worrying about when I’m going home.”
Last season, Donovan scored 20 goals and collected 35 assists in 44 regular-season games for the Canucks. He considers himself a playmaker who also plays a physical game.
“I like to use my body. I would like to get in the corner. I like moving the puck and creating opportunities,” Donovan said.
“Rather than score the goal, it’s always nice to make the pass and celebrate with the guy who scored. Sometimes, that’s a better feeling than scoring the goal.”
He was disappointed when the GOJHL season was cancelled on the eve of the team’s second-round matchup against the archrival St. Catharines Falcons.
“The boys were just so upset. All the guys remember how amazing it was to play them in a seven-game series that came down to the last 20 seconds,” Donovan recalled. “We wanted to create those moments again.”
After the “tough loss” against the Waterloo Siskins in the Sutherland Cup semifinals in 2018-19, “we were looking for revenge and we really thought we also had the chance for the second time to win the Sutherland Cup.”
“Just for it to be taken away from you, it wasn’t the way to go out. We spent so much time developing as a team and bringing in guys like Carson Edwardson, Andrew Somerville, Danial Singer and the return of Justin Kyle,” he said. “Those are just huge key parts and we were coming together as a team by the second round and getting stuff figured out.
“I didn’t get that closure to my junior career, but I’m thankful for the opportunity that last year brought me, too. Of course, all I can thank is Frank for that.”
“Now that I’m at school, it’s all about hockey and school. I don’t really have time to think about being homesick and worrying about when I’m going home.”
RYAN DONOVAN