Not a lot of kids pack up, move to Maine and finish high school online at a school they couldn’t even remember the name of, all so that they could play hockey. Rookie Nolan Leonard has the undeniable grit and talent to take the future of Suffolk University men’s hockey by storm.
Leonard is a 20-year-old freshman majoring in business economics. Number 44 on the ice, he’s a firecracker of a forward that got his start playing hockey in the South Shore.
Growing up in Braintree, Massachusetts, Leonard has been playing hockey for as long as he can remember. Instead of playing for Braintree Hockey, Leonard played for the Boston Junior Terriers, one of New England’s premier amateur hockey organizations.
“I played for Keith O’Connell and Ian Moran for six or seven years there. They did a lot for me when I was younger in shaping my game,” said Leonard.
Since Leonard was 14 years old, he’s known that college hockey was something he wanted. Seeing all of the older kids committing to schools for hockey, he wanted that for himself.
After moving on from the Terriers, Leonard started high school in Braintree. There, the team just got better and better. During Leonard’s junior year of high school, he helped lead the team in a tough, but notably close loss against St. John’s Prep.
“It just proved how good the Braintree team was after such a close game. St. John’s Prep went on to win it that year,” said Leonard.
Instead of graduating from Braintree High, Leonard opted for a change of pace.
He found that the Twin City Thunder was what was right for him, and ended up giving them his junior hockey rights, saying that he wouldn’t be able to play for any other team in that league.
Leonard moved to Maine his senior year of high school and started online school there at the Greater Commonwealth Virtual School. There, he played for the Thunder in the NCDC under coach Dan Hodge and assistant coach Cam Robichaud.
Leonard got a call asking if he’d want to go skate with the juniors team during his junior year of high school. He accepted and the two days he spent with them went really well.
“I finished out my junior year at Braintree and after that, I left in the first couple weeks of August to go up to camp in Maine. I had to earn my spot all the way through, and I ultimately ended up staying there for the full year, which doesn’t always happen in juniors,” said Leonard.
His first year with the Thunder, the team went far in the playoffs and ultimately lost. He decided to go back for another year and played about 30 games, but had to have shoulder surgery.
Right after high school, Leonard tore his AC joint, where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade. He only sat out for two weeks during Christmas break, then came back and played on it, of course.
“I played on it and I came home and it was just destroyed. I didn’t do anything about it, I was just like, ‘it’ll be fine,’ they said it would heal, so I was like ‘oh, perfect’… now you can see how forward my shoulders sit,” said Leonard.
The first year was a lot of fun for Leonard at Twin City though. The team was winning a lot. They got into the playoffs, won the first series in three games and then unfortunately lost to the South Shore Kings in the end.
“Throughout that whole year, I was such a young guy playing with kids two to three years older than me, and I think I learned a lot from those older players teaching me the ins and outs of junior hockey and what it takes to be a successful hockey player,” said Leonard.
Being only 18 years old at the time and playing with more mature players, it made Leonard want more out of the game and himself. He wanted to go to the next level, and has found himself really content with where he is now.
“I came to Suffolk and toured, and from there I fell in love with being in the city and playing hockey here,” said Leonard.
At Suffolk, Leonard is consistently pushed to the next level of his game. With captains Ryan Webb and Thomas Dempsey, both juniors at Suffolk, he feels like the leadership inspires the team and himself, on and off the ice.
“Webb is a forward and Dempsey is a defenseman, so I think each captain is different in their own way. If we need anything, we go to them. They’ve got good ground rules and leadership for the team and create an environment where everyone can have a lot of fun, but at the same time they want to win and want what’s best for us,” said Leonard.
The energy on the hockey team has been a huge stand out for Leonard during his time at Suffolk so far. The determination and hard work within the team leaves the guys consistently pushing themselves and each other.
“We have a really good group of guys, so everyone gets along well. Going to practice everyday has been great, but it’s a lot of hard work. Everything’s high tempo and our coach demands the best out of us, so it really makes the experience better that there’s so much work and meaning behind everything that we do. I think it brings everyone closer,” said Leonard.
In the future, Leonard hopes to continue playing hockey as long as he can, while hopefully working in real estate development out of college — but, he wouldn’t be mad at playing hockey while he does that either.
“I definitely would be interested in moving over to Europe and playing there. I think it would be a really cool experience to see another part of the world. I want to play hockey as long as I can, while also working towards my future and degree. I’ll take it one year at a time for now,” said Leonard.
The season has been great for Leonard, a rookie with 45 shots on goal and two points overall. With his talent and determination, he’s just excited to be out there on the ice, playing the game he’s loved for so long.
“I’m grateful that I’ve worked toward this point where I’ve gotten to play in every game, being a part of the good wins and the bad losses. Even the good losses, where we worked hard and they came out on top. Going to practice, working hard and earning my chance to play in the game has been my biggest accomplishment so far,” said Leonard.
