After spending several years in the minor leagues of professional hockey, goalie Patrick Killeen has decided to go back to school and don a Carleton Ravens helmet.
Killeen, 24, said he’s been sitting the past year out and practicing with the Ravens, since it takes a full year for a professional player to regain university player status.
“I’ve just been itching to get back on the ice,” he said. “Sitting out for almost a full year after playing hockey since I was six years old, [it’s] been really hard for me.”
Killeen was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, and finished a four-year junior career with the Brampton Battalion in the Ontario Hockey League before spending parts of three seasons in both the East Coast Hockey League and the American Hockey League.
He said he spent his last four months of professional hockey playing in Orlando, Fla. before coming to Carleton to study criminology.
“I just wanted to make sure that if hockey didn’t work out, I had an education to fall back on,” he said. “It was something that I thought was important for me as a person, and not just as a hockey player.”
Killeen said his work ethic is something he is looking forward to bringing to the Ravens this fall.
“I’ve always been a guy that shows up to the rink ready to work,” he said. “I love battling and having fun, and doing whatever I can to stop the puck . . . I like to lead by example, and that’s hopefully what I’m going to bring for the next few years.”
Ravens coach Marty Johnston said Killeen’s time playing professional hockey will help support the team and help them return to nationals this season after making program history by attending the University Cup for the first time in March.
“He is going to bring experience . . . We expect him to compete at a really high level for us,” Johnston said. “He battles, and for a guy that’s 6’4, that’s a great asset. He’s got the physical attributes, but he also has the right makeup to be a winner.”
Overall, the team has gained several new players that Johnston said will bring a new edge to the Ravens.
“We’re really happy with who we’ve brought in and we know it’s going to be tough, [but] we’re putting pieces in place that will help us be competitive for a very competitive division,” he said.
Killeen said he still gets scouted often and hopes to continue professional hockey after he graduates, either in North America or in Europe.
He said he wants to keep his hockey dream alive after graduating and rejoin the professional leagues for as long as he can.
“I’ll do what I always do and work as hard as I can and see how far it takes me,” he said.
Related Articles:
Former Ravens hockey captain experiences professional success
