The list just keeps on growing!
Two more players from this past season’s highly-successful Merritt Centennials’ team have signed letters of intent to continue their education and play hockey at prestigious post-secondary institutions.
In a pair of press releases issued last week, the Centennials’ organization announced that goaltender Lino Chimienti and forward Carter Shinkaruk have committed to attend Hobart and Elmira Colleges respectively. Both schools are located in the scenic Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, and both are NCAA members of the highly-competitive East Coast Athletic Conference.
The announcement of Chimienti’s and Shinkaruk’s intentions for this coming season brings to eight the number of Cents’ players from the 2011-12 team who have earned academic/athletic scholarships to schools in the U.S. or Canada. They join Reece Willcox (Cornell), Brandon Pfeil (Brown), Evan Stack (UMass-Amherst), Chad Brears (U of Alabama-Huntsville), Bill Marshall (Mount Royal) and Dylan Chanter (U of New Hampshire, 2014).
Reached at his home in Montreal, Chimienti expressed elation at the prospect of attending Hobart and playing for the Statesmen in September.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “Playing junior hockey was the best experience of my life, but it’s time to move on and get a degree. Then who knows what life will throw at you.”
Chimienti stated that quality of education played a big part in his decision to commit to Hobart, a high-end college located in the small community of Geneva, New York.
“Of all the schools that I spoke to, they were the best academic one. My plans are to take a Bachelor of Economics program, and eventually get my Masters.”
While Chimienti doesn’t know any of the players currently on the Statesmen’ roster, the team’s assistant coach, Carl Michaelson, is from Montreal. The 20-year-old netminder also knows players who are at other schools in the conference, and they all spoke highly of Hobart.
In addition, Chimi-enti will be joined at Hobart in September by Ben Gamache who played for the Vernon Vipers this past season.
“We met at a summer hockey camp last year in Boston,” said Chimienti. “Then we ended up playing against each other this past season. Now we’re going to be teammates and roommates. I’m excited.”
Another factor in Chimienti’s decision-making process was Hobart’s proximity to Montreal, and the opportunity for his parents and other family members to see him play. For the past three years, the 20-year-old netminder has been plying his hockey trade several time zones away – in Sioux Falls, Iowa, Grande Prairie, Alberta, and for the last two seasons in Merritt.
“It’s only a five hour drive,” Chimienti said with a laugh in reference to the relatively small distance from his hometown to Geneva. “I think at least my dad will be there every weekend.”
Chimienti has already paid a visit to Geneva with his parents, and said that the Hobart campus appealed to him right away.
“It felt really comfortable. A place that I could call home for the next four years.”
Chimienti played in 35 games this past season for the Centennials and established new personal bests with an 18-14-1 record, a 2.86 goals-against-average, a .907 save percentage and four shutouts.
“We are extremely happy for Lino in his decision to attend Hobart College this fall,” said Cents’ head coach and GM Luke Pierce. “Lino will be hugely missed in our dressing room as he was a tremendous leader for us over the past two seasons, and we thank him for bringing his maturity, dedication and talent to Merritt. We have no doubt that those attributes will continue to serve him well, and he’ll find success in whichever path he follows.”
As for Shinkaruk, a native of Langley who joined last season’s Centennials at the trade deadline in January, he will be attending a Soaring Eagles’ hockey program that is consistently ranked every year in the NCAA. Last year, Elmira finished with a 15-9-3 record and made it to the national quarterfinals before bowing out to Oswego.
“When I first talked to Dean Jackson, their assistant coach, it just seemed like a really good fit,” explained Shinkaruk from Osoyoos where he is vacationing with his family. “They seemed the most interested and were calling back every few weeks to see how I was doing. One of the biggest things [in making my decision] was their history of being a good school and a successful organization.”
Shinkaruk seems undaunted by the fact that he knows no one on the Eagles’ projected roster for next season.
“I didn’t know anyone when I first went to Powell River, or when I came to Merritt, but you just make friends.
“I’m going down to Elmira this summer for early registration, to see the campus, meet some of my teammates, and kind of prepare for the coming year. I’m really looking forward to that.”
Shinkaruk also likes the fact that Elmira and Hobart Colleges are only about an hour apart, and that he and Chimienti will play each other no less than three times this coming season.
“Yeah, that’ll be great. I can hardly wait!”
In 22 regular season games for the Cents, Shinkaruk had three goals and five assists for eight points. He added three more goals and an assist in nine playoff outings. His four-year BCHL career totals are 31 goals and 36 assists for 67 points in 199 games played.
“Carter has made a wise decision in choosing to attend Elmira,” said Pierce. “It is a program that perennially contends for championships while providing a solid education to their student-athletes.”
Pierce went on to add, “We acquired Carter this past January for his playoff experience and maturity, both of which he provided. We didn’t realize at the time that he would also bring much more to our group as his skill, passion and positive attitude helped push our team through the end of the regular season, and provided Merritt with one of the most exciting playoff runs in a long time.”
