Standing tall in the NCAA
Their stories are so similar it’s as if each photocopied the other ’s bio and then set out to imitate it almost perfectly.
Each grew up in Burlington. Each is under six feet tall and around 175 pounds which is a bit undersized. Each was overlooked in the Ontario Hockey League draft despite being really good in minor hockey. Each played provincial Jr. A in the area instead and then headed to an American university on a scholarship. Each plays in the same summer scrimmages back home.
And now, each is in the top five in U.S. college hockey scoring and on the list of finalists for the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s best player.
“It’s been a good year so f ar,” says Greg Gibson.
Uh, yeah. It has. For him and Shane Conacher both.
The 24-year-old Gibson is tied for third in scoring in his senior year at Robert Morris University just outside Pittsburgh. In 26 games, he’s been held off the scoresheet just five times and has blown away his career best points total despite having played 15 fewer games than he did in his secondbest season.
It’s the kind of performance that could make scouts take notice and enhance his lifelong dream of playing pro hockey in Europe down the road. It’s also the kind of output that could make a guy spend his evenings staring at his name and face on the Hobey Baker website.
“I try not to look at that stuff too much,” he says.
“But I always get reminders from the guys and people back home.”
OK, but has he gone online and voted for himself for the award?
“I honestly haven’t,” he laughs.
Conacher’s also on there. The 21year-old junior is tied for fourth in scoring in the entire U.S. as a member of the Canisius Golden Griffins. Which is impressive. More so when you realize the weight he’s carrying.
Had he asked around a few years ago before his decision to go to Canisius was final, a whole lot of wellmeaning people would’ve probably told him to go somewhere else. Somewhere far, far from Buffalo. A school on the east coast? Fine. Some college in Michigan? That’d work. Arizona? Florida? New Mexico? Perhaps Peru if there’s a team? Sure, whatever. Just anywhere but where he was planning to go.
Because pulling on a Golden Griffin sweater with his last name on the back was like attaching a piano to his shoulders and making sure a spotlight followed his every move on the ice.
See, his older brother, Cory, is a legend there. A few years ago, Conacher-the-elder showed up at the school as essentially an unknown and turned into a five-bell superstar. First he set the university’s scoring record. Then after being ignored by every NHL team in the draft he signed a pro contract with the American Hockey League’s Norfolk Admirals where he wasn’t just named rookie of the year but also, incredibly, the league’s most valuable player. Before finally heading off the NHL.
Oh, on top of everything else, his Admirals also won the championship that first year in the AHL. Cory may only be 5-foot-8 but those are some gigantic shoes to fill.
“I kind of felt a little pressure when I came here,” Shane says.
Yet here he is, just four points out of the national scoring lead — Gibson is one ahead of him — with another year of eligibility remaining after this one. Perhaps making him a long-shot for the Hobey Baker this year but at least in the discussion next season.
Both would love to win the scoring title, they admit that. Who wouldn’t? But both say they won’t be chirping the other through the summer if they do claim it. That’s not what it’s all about. Mostly because both have higher aspirations.
“Hopefully,” Conacher says, “we can just beat his team in the championship.”
Hopefully, we can just beat his team in the championship.
SHANE CONACHER