He played four years with the Ontario Hockey League’s St. Michael’s Majors and failed to catch the attention of NHL scouts. Like many others who had followed the same road, Darryl Boyce was left with two choices. He could choose hockey, and play in the low minor professional ranks that dot the southern United States, or he could choose an education, and put himself through the rigours of post-secondary school in Canada.
Like so many other young hockey hopefuls in Canada, Boyce dreamt of the opportunity to get drafted and play in the NHL. Boyce sacrificed the comforts of his small hometown life in Summerside, PEI to achieve it. He was drafted by the Majors in the OHL Amateur Draft, and at the age of 16, moved to Toronto to compete at the highest level of Canadian Junior hockey in the hope that someone would notice him.
“It’s a shock,” said Boyce with a smile, remembering his first experience in the city. “All my friends were telling me that people get shot all the time, and it’s a huge city, and that I’ll never survive. It was overwhelming on my first day.”
While Boyce would eventually get used to life in the city, it was not without its moments. “My roommate left me at the rink one day, and I never knew how the bus or transit system worked,” recalled Boyce with a sheepish grin. “So instead of jumping on a bus or asking for any directions I walked probably over ten kilometres home. I knew how he drove home, so I just walked the route home.”
Boyce sacrificed a normal life to play hockey. But the scouts never noticed and the draft never came. His unspectacular numbers failed to draw eyes, and his quiet, hard-working mentality went unnoticed. He had slipped through the cracks of Junior hockey, and it seemed that his dream was drifting away.
Hockey was important to Boyce, but so was his education. “It’s a big thing with my family. My mom and my dad don’t come from educational backgrounds, and they really push for me and my sister to get post-secondary education.”
Fortunately for Boyce, the Majors offers a package to its players that stresses the importance of completing one’s education, operating in affiliation with the University of Toronto St. Michael’s College School. “It was a great honour for me to attend that school while I was here,” said Boyce. “U of T’s academics were phenomenal and they pushed education the whole way. They preached to us that academics were first. So if you needed to miss practice or a little bit of a practice you made sure that your schooling got done and that hockey came second.”
In the end, Boyce would forgo professional hockey for the life of a student-athlete competing in Canadian Interuniversity Sports. Widely perceived as the proverbial dumping grounds for players who aren’t able to be professionals, it is one of the most under-scouted league in North America. An assumed lack of quality competition compared to that of Major Juniors has led to limited interest and very little attention from both hockey fans and the media.
Nonetheless, hockey remained an integral part of Boyce’s choice of schools. “I wanted to get into a good hockey program, a winning organization,” said Boyce of his decision to go to the University of New Brunswick. “They had both. They had great organized sports teams and they had great academics. I got the best of both worlds at UNB. It was great.”
Boyce credited his smooth transition to university life and work to his experience at St. Michael’s College School. “St. Mike’s was a great preparation for going to university. The workload at St. Mike’s was overwhelming at times. [At] University, you only take so many courses a day, and they’re spread out over the week. It really prepared me for what was to go on in university and I handled it quite well.”
On the ice at UNB, Boyce blossomed, hitting an age of critical development as a hockey player that saw his size, speed, and strength improve dramatically. This sudden growth finally drew the eyes and ears of hockey scouts as he was named the Atlantic University Sport and CIS rookie of the year, leading the UNB Varsity Reds to a 15-8-1 record.
He credited his Varsity Reds coach for his sudden growth. “Not too many people know that but me and my coach had it out [in my first year],” grinned Boyce. “One of the first games I got benched. We made our bus trip home to New Brunswick and I marched right back into his office and we had it out as to why I didn’t play. From then on in, we were pretty much straight shooters with each other and he gave me the ice time when I deserved and when I earned it.”
“I sort of took the bull by the horns and ran with it that season.”
His first season drew interest, even some talk. He used his second season to catapult his career. Boyle put his name on the scouting map with a strong offensive showing that cumulated to a gold medal in Italy, as well as the elusive National Championships in his second year with UNB.
“[The Leafs and I] were in contact after the first year, but there was a lot of opportunity going back to UNB for my second year. We were going to be a contender for the Nationals and we had an All-Star team being picked from the Eastern Conference to go to Italy and represent Canada.”
“And sure enough, it’s just like a fairy-tale story,” laughed Boyce. “I made the Italy team and represented Canada and won a gold medal in Italy. I came back, we made it to Nationals and we ended up winning the National Championships.”
His hard work would earn him an AHL contract with the American Hockey League and Toronto Maple Leaf affiliate Toronto Marlies that summer, an offer that made Boyce choose between school and hockey once again. This time however, he chose hockey, though it wasn’t a decision he took lightly.
“It was a really hard decision because my team the following year they went 26-1-1, went back to the championships. But as they say, ‘Been there, done that’ and you’ve got to move on to future endeavours.”
For now, he is relishing the opportunities that helped move him forward in hockey, but the education that helped get him there hasn’t been discarded. “I just finished a marketing course from UNB here [in February],” said Boyce proudly. “I still pick away with it. More or less I want to do it for [my parents] and then I want to do it for myself. I want to achieve goals and that’s one of them.”
Another goal is to play in the NHL one day. His hard work in the first half of the American League season in 2007-2008 saw him turn his AHL contract into a dream come true; an NHL deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs in December 2007.
“I was fortunate to get the opportunity because not many players out of the CIS get even a chance at the American League level. I knew I had to come in and I had to earn a spot on the American league team, and sure enough my first half of the season was recognized by the management upstairs and they gave me a shot.”
Boyce has already played his first NHL game January 24, 2008, which was unfortunately shortened by an injury during the game. Now he is waiting patiently for his next chance.
“I relished the opportunity and unfortunately I got hurt in that first game. But I’m here and I’m knocking on the door again. I want to say I’m knocking on the door to crack the big club eventually. I’m just going to keep playing my hardest each and every game and hope that I get another chance to move.”
“Burke and Wilson, and all the guys they brought in upstairs. David Nonis and Jeff Jackson and Mike Penny […] I could go on and on. They’re a great bunch of guys and further more than that they know their hockey. Ron Wilson coached a winning team in San Jose for the last six, seven years and Brian Burke won a Stanley Cup two years ago. I think the Leafs are heading in the right direction and people need to understand it is a turnover phase and guys are trying their hardest.”
Boyle’s willing to wait, he’s already beaten the odds. He’s a former CIS player with an NHL contract and a chance to live the dream again.
“You’re going to achieve your dreams if you work hard enough and I’m living proof of it.”
