As Alex and Abby Newhook have risen from one level of minor hockey to the next, the brother and sister duo from St. John’s have always been a little ahead of the curve.
Alex, 13, skipped a year of novice in the Avalon Celtics Minor Hockey Association, graduating to the atom ranks to play on the A squad when he was in Grade 3. Two years later, Abby, 11, did the exact same thing and ended up playing on the same Atom A squad as her big brother for a season.
“They’ve been kind of top end players since they’ve been going at it,” says their father, Shawn Newhook. “They both scored their fair share of goals playing novice and atom, and now they seem to be keeping it going and developing.”
This season, the siblings are both suiting up for St. John’s teams in the fledgling provincial AAA peewee and bantam leagues. Heading into this weekend’s games, Alex is leading the bantam circuit with 20 goals 27 points in 16 games, while Abby, one of just two girls in the provincial peewee league, is seventh overall with 15 points in 14 games. (Tri Pen defenceman Darcy Jones is the other female.)
Asked about their early-season success, the Newhook kids are quick to deflect the praise back to their teammates and coaches, but the reality is much of their success on the ice comes from a combination of athletic genes and understanding of work ethic that is sometimes lost on athletes.
“All the best players say if you want to get places or make it, then you’ve got to work hard every time you’re on the ice,” says Alex, who this fall played for the provincial under-14 team at the Atlantic Challenge Cup minor hockey tournament in Moncton, N.B. where he finished among the tournament leaders with seven points in five games.
“You always have to get better,” contends Abby. “There’s never going to be something you never have to work on. You’re never going to be perfect.”
Some of their hockey talent, no doubt, has been inherited from dear old dad, a standout for the Brother Rice high school team, the junior Celtics and later Torbay in the Avalon East Senior Hockey League where he won scoring titles.
But their mother, Paula Newhook (nee Mercer) was no slouch herself, competing in soccer and water polo during her university days and turning to distance running afterwards. She’s since completed a number of marathons, including the Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon, Berlin Marathon, and this year’s New York City Marathon.
The brother and sister are not only talented young hockey players, but also quite skilled on the soccer pitch with both earning spots on St. John’s teams competing in the provincial youth leagues.
“I generally credit some of their hockey and athleticism to the fact they do play two sports,” says Shawn.
Both Alex and Abby contend that playing and training for soccer at a high level has had a positive effect on their game on the ice.
“The agility helps with quickness on the ice and all the training makes you faster and more fit,” says Abby, who admits she’ll choose hockey over soccer most days.
“It’s good for foot speed and being able to kick the puck to your stick from your skates,” explains Alex, who made the decision this past summer to leave provincial soccer behind to focus on playing hockey at the highest level.
He still plays club soccer with the Feildians Athletic Association, but, like his sister, hockey comes first.
“I knew it was coming because hockey was always my first sport. It was a lot to handle when it was both hockey and provincial soccer,” he says.
Shawn says Alex, a centreman, fits the mold of a power forward while Abby is “more north to south” player.
“He’s big and strong and he’s got really good balance on the ice,” he says.
“(Abby’s) big thing is skating and for her age, she’s pretty big and strong. She’s a little bigger than some of the boys out there. She might want to enjoy that now while she can.”
That’s because in two years time, Abby will be faced with the decision to keep playing with the boys as she’s done all her life — the only girls-only hockey she’s played was with a club team in Toronto last season — or start playing on a regional girls’ bantam team. For boys, bantam hockey is when checking is first introduced.
For her part, it’s a no-brainer.
“It’s good competition, and nothing’s going to change except being in the dressing room,” says Abby. “I would like to play with them, even with the contact.”
For her parents, however, it will depend on whether she grows and develops.
“We’ll have to see how it does. Right now she’s pretty physical and I think she can handle it if she keeps growing,” her father said.
Alex’s hockey horizon is a little closer in view, and he’s already figured out that he wants to follow in the footsteps of Newfoundlanders before him such and some day play in the pro ranks.
“Every time I’m on the ice, it’s just fun, and there’s nothing I like to do better than playing hockey.”
koliver@thetelegram.com
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