Skating through school is not allowed in the Ivy League, even for hockey players. Victoria Grizzlies forward Luc Pelletier of Courtenay had to master both the classroom and rink en route to committing to play NCAA Div. 1 at Princeton University.
“I’ve been on the Island all my life and had never seen buildings that old,” said the native of Courtenay, of his campus visit to Princeton, New Jersey.
It’s a common reaction when West Coasters visit Ivy League schools for the first time thinking they are in a setting lifted right out of Harry Potter.
“It’s cobblestones … and the arena [Hobey Baker Memorial Rink] is celebrating its 100th anniversary,” noted Pelletier.
“I only took one visit [athletic recruiting visits are allowed to five NCAA schools] and I knew this was the place. It really hasn’t hit me yet. I never thought this was realistic.”
Academic rigour is as important as athletic accomplishment when it comes to getting into an Ivy but Pelletier aced that, too, with a perfect 4.00 grade-point average.
“I’ve worked hard in school,” he said.
Not that it’s easy for rep hockey players who have to constantly switch cities and schools through their career journeys. Pelletier went from Mark Isfeld Secondary in Courtenay to Nanaimo District Secondary, when he came down to the Harbour City to play for the North Island Silvertips in Major Midget, and then to Stelly’s Secondary when he played for the Peninsula Panthers in Junior B and finally finishing off at Belmont Secondary when with the Grizzlies of the B.C. Hockey League. Throw in an education interrupted by the pandemic and you have a guy who can concentrate on the books as well as he does the puck.
“COVID was a disruption for all students the past two years,” he said. “It was hard but I focused … online when it came to that at times.”
The third-year Grizzlies left-winger, who has five assists in 11 games to start the season, visited Princeton in September and cemented the commitment last week during the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack attended by more than 100 NCAA and NHL scouts. At six-foot-four and 205 pounds, Pelletier has the sort of bodily presence scouts covet.
“Princeton said they liked my physical play combined with my hockey IQ, and how I play defensively with the puck, and how I set up my teammates,” said Pelletier.
“They said they are going to give me every opportunity to develop as a player.”
The plan is set: “My dream is pro hockey but after four years in university and earning my degree.”
That’s a plan hatched both in hockey and now the highest academic circles pending. As well-rounded in the classroom as his play is on the ice, Pelletier said he will major at Princeton in either Math or English.
Meanwhile, Pelletier and the Grizzlies (5-4-2) will be looking to extend their three-game winning streak when they take on the Chilliwack Chiefs (3-6-1) tonight and Surrey Eagles (9-1) on Saturday night in a two-game homestand at The Q Centre.
“Our offence is beginning to get going, and we are starting to score now, while we remain great defensively,” said Pelletier, of the Grizzlies’ recent turnabout.
ICE CHIPS: Pelletier joins defenceman and San Jose Sharks draft pick Eli Barnett (Vermont), goaltender Ansel Holt (Army) and forward Jack Gorton and defenceman Tim Busconi (both Boston University) as Grizzlies who have NCAA Div. 1 commitments. … Six-foot-two Salmon Arm Silverbacks forward Owen Beckner from Victoria, defenceman Hoyt Stanley of the Grizzlies and Vernon Vipers blue-liner Dylan Compton of Victoria, out of Shawnigan Lake School, are among the nine current BCHL players ranked for the 2023 NHL draft by Central Scouting in its first assessment released this week … Nanaimo product and former Grizzlies star forward Matthew Wood, now with the UConn Huskies in the NCAA, is ranked as a first-round prospect with many experts projecting him in the top 10.
