He shined in the Lone Star State
And now Brad Power, who starred in Corpus Christi, looks to take his game to the NCAA
Brad Power will be moving on in his hockey career this fall.
As of today, the exact direction is still being determined, but the forward from St. John’s is prepared for whatever is to come. After all, hockey has already taken him somewhere he never thought he’d be.
Power, 21, recently finished his junior career with the Corpus Christi, Tx., Icerays of the North American Hockey League, a circuit mainly known for producing players for NCAA programs.
That reputation was what attracted him to the Icerays, who are one of 24 teams in the NAHL, which is centred in the American midwest, but whose geography stretches from Alaska (Fairbanks Icedogs) to Massachusetts (Northeast Generals) as well as from Minnesota to Texas.
“I didn’t know that much about the league when Brad Flynn first contacted me a couple of years ago, but it seemed to fit in with what I wanted in terms of getting to an NCAA school,” said Power, who had just completed his second year with the Summer- side Capitals of the Maritime Junior Hockey League when he got the call from Flynn, who was an Icerays’ assistant coach at the time.
“I liked Summerside and I was doing well there,” added Power, who had been the Capitals’ second-leading scorer as an 18-year-old in 2014-15. “But to be honest, the Maritime league isn’t known that much for giving exposure for the NCAA. So I was actually looking for something different when Flynner phoned, and I ended up going to (Corpus Christi).”
Power, who was selected by the Icerays in the third round of the 2015 NAHL draft, arrived in Texas to find that Flynn, who is the son of Danny Flynn, the head coach of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Saint John Sea Dogs, had left to take an assistant’s job with the QMJHL’S Acadiebathurst Titan.
But despite the departure of his recruiter, Power did well during his first year in Corpus Christi, finishing as the team’s third-leading scorer. He absolutely thrived in his second season with the Icerays after Flynn returned, this time as head coach, registering 54 points (second-most on the club), including a team-leading 24 goals and a plus-27 rating in 58 games.
When the Icerays’ season ended earlier this spring (they lost to the Dallas-based Texas Brahmas in the NAHL South Division final), Power was fourth on the club’s all-time list in goal-scoring and fifth in points.
What’s more, he was named to the NAHL Selects team for the league’s February showcase in Michigan, where he had four points in two games, including the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win over the United States U18 development team, chock-full of prospects for the 2017 NHL draft.
The showcase is attended by hundreds of scouts, most of them American colleges.
Power had already attracted collegiate attention through his play in Corpus Christi, but the interest in him “skyrocketed” after the showcase and he ended up considering about eight serious offers from NCAA programs.
Power hasn’t yet made a final commitment, but says he could be close to choosing a school.
“I’m actually waiting on paperwork from one ... but there’s a lot more to this than you realize. I’m still learning all the rules that come when committing to a college,” said Power, who noted one factor will be whether he is able to transfer credits from his online studies at the College of North Atlantic.
And even if he can’t find the American collegiate hook-up he wants, he also has at least a couple of Canadian universities who have reached out to him.
Wherever Power lands, he does know what he wants to study nursing. His grandmother was a nurse and his father, Jim, has been an LPN at the Waterford Hospital for 25 years.
“You have to be patient in that work, and I think hockey has helped teach me to be patient,” said Power, who is a product of the St. John’s Maple Leafs’ midget program and who also spent a year in Kingston, Mass., with the Bay State Breakers of the Eastern junior league.
He’s now listed as 5-11, and 193 pounds, but, “I was always kind of smaller player coming up through,” said Power, who was drafted by the QMJHL’S Moncton Wildcats and attended the Wildcats’ training camp in 2013, but only long enough so as not to nullify is NCAA eligibility.
“It wasn’t for me at the time,” he said, “but it was one stop on the trip, and it’s been an interesting trip so far.”