St. Onge heading to Alaska
Rylee St. Onge’s patience has paid off.
The 20-year-old St. Catharines native recently fulfilled his goal of landing a hockey scholarship when he signed on the dotted line with the University of Alaska-Anchorage.
“I’m really excited. This is what I’ve been planning for for the last four years when I decided not to go the OHL route when I had a chance,” St. Onge said from Iowa, where he is toiling for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League. “It’s been a nerve wracking process just playing it year by year and now that it’s finally came to it, it’s nice to clarify the next four years of my life are set.
“I’m excited to see where it leads me further down the road.”
St. Onge certainly didn’t take the direct route to Alaska.
After being drafted by the Plymouth Whalers in the sixth round of the 2014 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection, St. Onge played three seasons in the Ontario Junior Hockey League in order to protect his NCAA eligibility.
“It was definitely tough. I went to camp in Plymouth and was amazed. It was incredible and was a great league. I played my first year of junior and didn’t think too much about the NCAA,” he said.
St. Onge then went back to Plymouth the next season as a 17-year-old with a new thought process.
“As a player who developed a little bit later, I never looked at it as though it was slowing me down,” he said of his season in the OJHL. “I always looked at as a positive and the second year I went back and they wanted me to stay but in my head I already made the decision I wanted to go to school.
“I wanted to go to school and get my four years of school paid for and not have to worry about any of that and take the extra time I needed to become the well-rounded player I could be.”
After three seasons in the OJHL, St. Onge joined the Corpus Christi SunRays of the North American Hockey League last season after coming close to signing in the United States Hockey League.
“It opened my eyes and mind up how different the game is and made me into a more well-rounded player,” he said of his season in Texas. “I had a good season and was drafted in the second phase of USHL draft.”
St. Onge, who also plays lacrosse for the St. Catharines Athletics, has 19 goals and 28 points in 45 games this season, which helped him get his deal in Alaska.
“There were a couple of others in the running,” he said. “We took our time with it and played out all the pros and cons of each school and Alaska surpassed them all in one way or another.
“They were the first ones to offer and showed interest in me right away. Alaska was willing to be the first to do it and had the confidence in me so that’s a big part of making the decision.”
St. Onge plans to major in sports management and is looking forward to the experience, both on and off the ice.
“Last year I was in Texas so I was living the beach life all year around and for the next four years it’s going to be winter weather all year around,” he said. “It’s four years of my life, it’s not the rest of my life. I’m going to go there and enjoy it and everything Alaska has to offer. It’s something incredible I heard. I’ll embrace the cold a little bit and try and enjoy it as much as I can.”
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