John Ryan Francis

Since leaving P.E.I. to play hockey, a lot has changed for John Ryan Francis.
In the roughly seven months since leaving his home to play for the Westminster Martlets, Francis has had to balance entering a new social network of peers, playing a higher level of hockey than he's used to and meeting the academic standards put before him by his new teachers.
And, according to Francis, it hasn't been easy.
"Academically it's tough," he said. "But I'm getting through it."
He said the standards at Westminster School, a college-prep school in Connecticut, are considerably higher than those of his high school in P.E.I.
"The school work is difficult," he said. "It's about 10-times harder. Eight page papers, lots of assignments, stuff like that."
However, it's not all bad. Francis said while he's definitely working harder at school, he's also making a lot of new friends.
"This is my first time living away from home for hockey," he explained, adding he was homesick for the first little while. "But you get to make some good friends and build relationships."
While the schoolwork is more difficult, it's not the hardest thing Francis has come up against since moving away.
It was mid-February, while playing a game for the Martlets that Francis suffered a major hip injury.
"I got into hit into the boards where the glass meets the boards and it drove into my hip," Francis said of the injury.
Because of this Francis was on crutches for a couple of weeks and was forced to miss a number of games.
He said getting back onto the ice was difficult at first and took a lot of perseverance.
"It took some hard work to get back into it," the left-winger said. Francis added he's been knocked around quite a bit by opposing teams as he's much smaller than most of the other players in the league.
"There's a major size difference," Francis said. "They're a lot stronger, physical and faster."
He added the league overall is a higher level of playing.
"It's compared to playing in the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League)," Francis said. "I play against a lot of draft picks going to the NHL."
Nevertheless, Francis said he's enjoying his time at school and is still considering a career in hockey in the future.
Whether that career continues to be in the United States or returns to Canada is yet to be decided.
"I'm not sure what I want to do right now," he said. "I'm discussing that right now with my hockey advisor (Bernie Cheverie)."
Francis played last season with the Mid-Isle Matrix of the PEI Midget AAA League. He is the son of Brian and Georgina Francis and lives in Rocky Point. He is a member of the Abegweit First Nation.

By Nathan Rochford