Niall Mahoney Junior Review

[LiamFlannigan 17]

Niall Mahoney

Junior Review

 

 

In a small Irish fishing village of less than two thousand people, the question arises how did Niall Mahoney find himself playing the sport of hockey, let alone finding himself in the upcoming VHLM Junior Showcase Tournament. As is the case in how most Irish people meet, Niall’s parents Declan and Grace met at a lovely little pub called The Old Commercial Bar in the scenic costal community of Ardglass, Ireland. Declan, carrying on his family traditions of fishing in Ardglass which dated back hundreds of years, strolled out to the pub with fellow seafarers for a few brews after a long day on the seas. While Grace, a university student from Canada was travelling with her Irish cousins across the Irish countryside on break. As fate would have it, the first night that Declan and Grace met was the night that Niall was conceived.

Once Niall was born, Grace was lucky enough to obtain a career as a school teach in the village while Declan continued the family tradition of fishing. Neither career was luxurious, but it paid the bills. So in a town of less than two thousand people with no ice hockey arena, how did Niall end up on skates? Well, again as fate would have it, Grace was a figure skater back in her homeland of Canada. On Sundays, Grace would drive about thirty miles from Ardglass to Belfast to go to public skating and would take Niall along with her. On one Sunday, unaware that public skating was cancelled due to a Belfast Giants EIHL game, Grace and Niall packed up and made the trek to Belfast. Disappointed that they would not be able to go skating, they stayed to watch the game nonetheless and this is where Niall’s love for hockey began.

 

It was like nothing Niall had ever seen before. With Grace growing up in Canada, it was quite a regular site for her. Seeing the love in her sons’ eyes for the game, she reached out to family members still living in Canada asking them to send over videos of Don Cherry's Rock'Em Sock'em Hockey. Although a little dated, Niall was glued to the television watching the likes of Scott Stevens and Darius Kasparaitis, two of the hardest hitting toughest defencemen to ever lace a pair of skates. Niall knew that if he was to play hockey, these are two players he wanted to mimic on the ice.

 

Niall begin his youth hockey career in Belfast with one condition. Each summer when not in school, Niall would work with his father in the family business of fishing. Without hesitation, Niall agreed. Niall never had the hardest shot, quickest feet or soft hands. However, one thing he did have that stood out amongst the rest was heart and determination. He never gave up, never quit and was the toughest player on the ice. If he had you in his crosshairs, there was a good chance you would find yourself laying on the ice from a massive hit.

 

Tragedy struck however on an ill-fated day on the seas. In an unfortunate accident, Declan went overboard, and his body lost at sea. Niall, at fourteen years of age witnessed the entire tragedy unfold. This absolutely rocked his world. But Niall found an outlet for his sadness and aggression through hockey. Grace, seeing the importance of this knew that she had to keep Niall in hockey in order to keep his sanity.

 

At the age of fifteen, Niall was selected to play for the Belfast Giants of the U20 Scottish League. While playing on the third defensive pairing and never offering much offensive qualities, it was his defensive qualities which made him an asset on this club. The hits he would deliver were bone crushing, the way he could clear opponents from in front of the net were unmatched. His strength, both physical and mental, came from his time working with his father on their family fishing boat.

Although not padding much statistics with the Giants U20 program, his play was enough to get noticed by a scout with the Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL). A league that operates outside of the umbrella of Hockey Canada therefore there are no restrictions on import players that can play in the league. Using the funds from an insurance policy related to the death of his father, Niall boarded a plane to Canada to play for the Temiscaming Titans of GMHL.

Over the past two seasons, Niall has continued to hone his skills as a stay at home, physical defensemen. Niall has been feared in the GMHL as one of the toughest defencemen in the league having over two hundred penalty minutes in each of the two years spent with the Titans.

While Niall Mahoney may have many aspects to improve upon, he is grateful for the opportunity to play in the upcoming VHLM Junior Showcase Tournament in hopes of getting picked up by a VHLM team in the future, continuing his hockey career while living out a dream his father always wanted him to pursue.