Newhook decides staying out west is best
Junior star will remain with Victoria Grizzlies and maintain NCAA eligibility rather than play for QMJHL’S Mooseheads
Looks like Alex Newhook is Boston-bound after all.
The 17-year-old St. John’s hockey star has apparently spurned offers from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Halifax Mooseheads, and will return to the junior A Victoria Grizzlies next season before joining the Boston College Eagles in 2019-20.
Newhook committed to the NCAA school last year.
However, the Mooseheads selected Newhook 41st overall in the 2017 QMJHL draft — he almost certainly would have been a top 10 pick had he declared his intentions of playing major junior — and Halifax had hoped to get the high-scoring centre in the fold next season when that city plays host to the Memorial Cup.
Newhook, the British Columbia Hockey League’s rookie of the year last season after scoring 66 points in 45 games with the Grizzlies, is expected to be a top 10 pick in next year’s NHL Draft.
The Hockey News has speculated Newhook could go as high as No. 2 behind American Jack Hughes in the 2019 draft.
Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon received word this week that Newhook will be going back to Victoria next season, and promptly named him the team’s captain.
“I love Victoria and the team and I really want to play (NCAA) college hockey, so I made the decision that is right for me,” Newhook told the Victoria Times Colonist.
“The Memorial Cup would have been special, so it was a very tough decision.”
Newhook will vie for a spot on Canada’s team for the 2018 Hlinka-gretzky Cup, an eightteam, under-18 world championship which opens Aug. 6 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
He’ll also play for Canada East in the 2018 World Junior A Challenge in December in Bonnyville, Alta.