Girhiny comes home
Christian Girhiny has done some serious soul searching the last few weeks.
The 20-year-old Thorold resident was about a month into his final season as member of the Erie Otters but began to question if it would be better to take a step back from the Ontario Hockey League and begin to focus on his future, both on and off the ice.
Earlier this week, Girhiny finally made the decision to leave the OHL and come home and play for the St. Catharines Falcons, where his father, Frank Girhiny, is the head coach and general manager and his uncle, Rick Girhiny, is an assistant coach.
“It was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in my life,” Christian said. “Growing up, all you want to do is keep pursuing your dream of hockey. My dream still isn’t over but being an OA, it was kind of something I was thinking about in the summer time.”
Christian had several talks with those close to him before finally making the decision.
“I was flip flopping back and forth and had a lot of conversations with people who I felt were very close to me,” he said. “I wanted to start focusing on where I wanted to go to school and having the opportunity to be a Falcon, I’ve grown up watching them since I was 12 years old.”
Christian practiced with his new club Wednesday for the first time.
“I’ve always thought one day I would play here,” he said. “I’m going to cherish my last few months (of junior hockey) here.”
The decision took some by surprise, but Otters’ general manager Dave Brown issued a release in full support of Christian’s decision.
“For four years, Christian has dedicated himself to the organization and gave the team his all. He was a key part to our groups over the years and helped the Otters to the top of the league not too long ago. Christian represented the Otters at and away from the rink, and we can’t thank him enough for his contributions to the organization during his career. We wish him the very best moving forward with his future endeavours.”
Uncle Rick Girhiny is thrilled to have his nephew on board.
“He’s won a championship before and he knows what it takes,” he said. “He’s going to bring a lot of experience that way and he’s a great character kid. He’s good for the room and his teammates will like him.”
Frank respected the decision, from both a hockey and personal standpoint.
“It wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. They (Erie) are going to play a lot of their younger guys,” he said. “The decision, as a father, I know he thought long and hard about. Although it was hard to leave the Erie Otters, to be able to come here, he knows what his end result will be and that’s to play U Sport Hockey. He gets to come to a program he’s obviously familiar with and gets to play a lot of minutes and hone his game to get him ready for U Sport.”
Frank has already fielded a number of calls from interested Canadian schools.
“I definitely I want to stay in Canada,” Christian said. “I’m obviously going to hear about as many Canadian universities as possible. I want to soak in the experience to pick and choose where I want to play hockey and even if I decide I want to step away from hockey and just focus on school, I know I can always fall back on my education package.”
Christian, who indicated he was leaning towards majoring in business or sport management, isn’t too worried about playing for his father and uncle.
“I respect my dad as a coach and I know what he’s accomplished over the years and my uncle, too,” he said. “When it comes to game time, I’m going to listen to them like another other coach. I know I might be related to them but that’s not going to take away from them what I can take from them and obviously they’re going to want to hear what I have to say as well.
“It’s just going to be like any ordinary hockey team.”
The news was met with jubilation by the Girhiny family.
“Everybody at first was a little confused you could say. They all knew how I was feeling and obviously my mom wants to have me at home,” Christian smiled.
Selected by Erie 219th overall in the 11th round of the 2014 OHL Priority Selection, Girhiny played 185 career regular season games for the Otters, 44th most in team history, and posted 68 points over his four-year OHL career. The winger also participated in 33 post-season including appearances in all 22 games on the Otters run to the 2017 OHL Championship. He also suited up for the team in all five of their Memorial Cup matchups in May 2017, recording a goal in their tournament opener against the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds.
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