The Steinbach Pistons are sending two more players to college and university.
Former team captain, Brock Genyk and Johnny Cormier both received scholarships for this upcoming school year. Genyk will be skating with the Concordia University College of Alberta Thunder and Cormier will be playing for the New England College Pilgrims.
Genyk says he can't wait to pursue the new opportunity. “For the first three years I will be doing my bachelor of arts and hopefully get into education and then one day I want to become a teacher.”
He says that he has already been in contact with his new team and they say they have heard many good things about him from Pistons Head Coach Paul Dyck. “It's awesome having Paul as a reference. For him to give such a good word about me makes me feel good. I want nothing but good things said about me.”
The Pistons organization haven't had a lot of players graduate from junior hockey with the team, because they've been rebuilding with younger players and have traded most of their 20 year-olds away at the trade deadline to give them a chance at a championship somewhere else.
Despite not having the kind of success many fans hoped for, the Pistons have still been able to send five players to school with scholarships. Cormier and Genyk are the fourth and fifth players to receive that honor. Ryan Griffiths, Josh Rutherford and Chris Williamson were the other three.
Dyck says this is a very positive step forward for the organization. “It's a great thing, that's why we are in this business. We want to see our players move on. We want to see our players get an education through hockey.”