OHL rookies make the grade in classroom
Icedogs draft pick Fimis and Thorold native Swick both earn academic player of the month honours
Pano Fimis has been a class act in his Grade 11 studies at Governor Simcoe Secondary School, though he has yet to set foot inside a classroom at the high school in north-end St. Catharines.
In January, the first pick of the Niagara Icedogs in the 2020 Ontario Hockey League draft — and the second selection overall — was honoured as the league’s Central Division academic player of the month.
He is averaging 92 per cent in mathematics, 91 in chemistry and 90 in financial accounting despite taking all of his classes remotely from his home in Richmond Hill, Ont., north of Toronto.
Tim Tope, the team’s academic adviser, recommended Fimis begin the 2020-21 academic year at Governor Simcoe, rather than the high school he attended in Grade 10, “just so there wouldn’t be a huge transition during the season.”
“I wouldn’t have to juggle any timetables or have any bumps with course loads,” said Fimis, who turns 17 in June.
“It’s different, for sure,” the five-foot-nine, 155-pound, right-shooting centre said of learning remotely.
“It’s just another thing on the list that has been the result of COVID. I’ve adapted pretty well.”
The key to excelling in the classroom, Fimis said, is getting into a “good routine.”
“That’s a big thing for me because, if you get out of a routine, it’s difficult to wake up in the morning. It’s difficult to find the motivation to get up and do something,” he added.
“The biggest thing for me was to get into a good routine, which I have.”
Fimis, who is coming off a Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) minor midget triple-a championship with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, exemplifies what the Icedogs look for in a student-athlete.
“He has made the best of this difficult situation we find ourselves in and has worked extremely hard, according to his teachers,” Tope said.
Fimis had 41 goals and 63 assists in 59 games for the Jr. Canadiens in 2019-20.
The GTHL’S minor midget player of the year isn’t the only student attending a St. Catharines high school who made the OHL’S version of the dean’s honour roll. Kitchener Rangers prospect Trent Swick was Midwest Division academic player of the month for achieving 94 per cent in chemistry, 90 in religion and 87 in both English and introduction to anthropology, psychology and sociology as a Grade 11 student at Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School.
Rangers general manager and head coach Mike Mckenzie said a strong work ethic — “on and off the ice” — was one of the reasons the team took the 16year-old Thorold native in the third round, 47th overall.
“It is great to see that Trent has used his time wisely and kept up with his studies over the course of the year,” Mckenzie said. “This award recognizes that off-ice work ethic.”
Kitchener’s academic adviser, Dave Tennant, commended the six-foot-five, 188-pound leftwinger’s “consistent academic focus and attention to detail” during a “very unusual and challenging” time.
“It takes a great deal of dedication and perseverance to achieve the success he has, and I wish him all the best in continuing his studies,” Tennant said.
In 2019-20, Swick scored 26 goals and collected 29 assists in 32 games in minor midget triple-a with the Southern Tier Admirals.
Oshawa Generals centre Cooper Way and Sarnia Sting defenceman Ryan Mast were the January academic players of the month for the East and West divisions, respectively.
Way, in Grade 12 at Maxwell Heights Secondary School inoshawa and at St. David Catholic Secondary School in Waterloo, saw action in one game for the Generals before playing 46 contests in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League with the junior B Elmira Sugar Kings, while Mast, in Grade 12 at Bloomfield Hills High School in Bloomfield Township, Mich., played 58 games in his rookie year in the OHL.
In the 2019-20 academic year, 334 players continued their education at post-secondary institutions throughout North America by using their OHL scholarship, with a total contribution from the 20 teams of more than $3 million.
OHL scholarship payments have totalled more than $25 million over the past 10 seasons. The minimum benefit for graduating players is tuition, books and compulsory fees for each season played in the OHL toward an undergraduate degree.
Besides tuition, books and fees, the maximum scholarship benefit also includes room and room for former players studying toward an undergraduate degree.
Scholarships can be used for university, college, as well as trade and technical schools.