Finding roots along his route
St. John’s IceCaps’ Ryan Johnston has familial connection to Newfoundland
Ryan Johnston is discovering a few more branches on the family tree.
Like most players at the St. John’s IceCaps’ training camp, taking place this week in Corner Brook, the 23-year-old defenceman from Sudbury, Ont., is learning about Newfoundland, although he already has some base knowledge.
His mother, Colleen, is from St. John’s, the daughter of onetime lighthouse keeper Ernie Myrick, who eventually moved his family to Halifax.
“My mom told me there would probably be some people probably trying to get in touch with me, and she was right,” said Johnston after a training-camp session at the Corner Brook Civic Centre Wednesday.
“She was right. I’ve already gotten a couple of messages from relatives, you know ‘welcome to Newfoundland,’ so it will be pretty cool to meet family for the first time.”
Aside from his connections to this province, it would be almost impossible to provide background on Johnston, the hockey player, without the subject of “family” coming up.
Johnston, who spent three years at Colgate University before signing with the Montreal Canadiens in summer, is one of six children, all of whom have played or are playing high-level hockey.
Four other siblings also competed in the NCAA ranks, including oldest sister Katie, who went to Harvard University, where he played both varsity hockey and soccer. Two other sisters — Sarah and Rebecca — suited up for Cornell, with Re- becca going on to star for Canada’s national women’s team and winning two Olympic gold medals. Brother Jacob, also a defenceman, started at Cornell before moving on to Dalhousie University in Halifax, turning pro after graduation and getting into four games with AHL’s Texas Stars along the way. This season, he’s in Edinburgh, Scotland playing for that city’s entry in the British Elite League.
And there’s another brother, Steven, who spent a little time with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and is now into his second year of studies at Dal, where he is a left-winger for the Tigers of the Atlantic University Sport conference.
Cornell, Colgate, Dalhousie, Harvard. No bird schools there. So you get an idea where education ranks in the family of Robert and Colleen Johnston. Which meant Ryan Johnston’s decision to leave Colgate after his third year to sign a two-year entrylevel contract with the Canadiens this summer wasn’t a straightforward one.
“There were some tough conversations with my parents,” he admitted, “because obviously, my family holds academics in high regard.
“And education always was important to me, and still is, but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to play for the Montreal Canadiens.”
And here is where another member of the family enters our story. That would be Mike Johnston. Ryan’s uncle and head coach of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
“When I was trying to decide, I ended up calling him and ask- ing what he thought, because he’s probably run into the same situation,” said Ryan about his uncle, once head coach at the University of Calgary and University of New Brunswick.
“He said you have that opportunity ahead of you and I think you have to take it. You can always finish school.”
Which is what Johnston, who was studying geology at Colgate, plans to do in the future. For now, he’s grabbing the brass ring the Canadiens offered him after he impressed as an invitee to their July prospects camp.
“A player like me doesn’t get a lot of opportunities. I was never highly touted and didn’t have a whole bunch of teams after me,” said Johnston, whose listed height of 5-10 may be a stretch, both figuratively and literally.
“But I thought I can play here. I know I can play here. And being here means I have the chance to show I’m right in thinking that way.”