UCCer recalls stopping Crosby
`He wasn't too pleased:' Greening
Hoop teams return with few U.S. wins
DAVID GROSSMAN
SPORTS REPORTER
Colin Greening doesn't normally boast of the time he restricted hockey phenom Sidney Crosby to just one shot in an Atlantic under-16 tournament a few years ago.
But if you talk to him long enough, he'll let it slip out and is quite proud of the accomplishment.
Greening, now a key member of Toronto's Upper Canada College Blues, remembers when he played for Team Newfoundland and was given the task of shadowing Crosby, then a Team Nova Scotia member. Greening had a goal and an assist in a 2-2 tie.
"He wasn't too pleased with me, I remember that," the 18-year-old said. "It's great that he's playing for Canada (in the world junior championship) and maybe I'll be able to play some day for Canada at the Olympics."
Greening was UCC's rookie of the year in hockey in 2004. As the centre on the Blues' top line, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Greening had eight points in his last four games during the Tabor Invitational, a Boston tournament that UCC lost in the final.
With a 5-5-1 record, UCC is focusing on defending its title as champions of the MacPherson Invitational starting Jan. 14 in Aurora. They'll have to get past by rival St. Andrew's College. The host Saints, the Star's No.1-ranked team for four months, have one loss in 19 games.
Greening, an honours student, is in his last year before heading off to Cornell University.
The move from St. John's to UCC was a risk, Greening said.
"I came here for its academic reputation and student athlete program," he said. "I could have gone the Junior A hockey route, weighed the options, but my parents have been big on education and you can't beat UCC."