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Prior to a game against Mount St. Charles, one of the best under-14 hockey teams in the country, head coach Chris Collins’ Rochester Selects squad was lacking personnel, he said. Many of his players had chosen to suit up for their respective high school hockey teams instead, and Collins was left with a short bench.

Anchoring his three-man defensive unit was Seamus Powell, who finished the game with roughly 45 minutes of ice time, according to Collins, helping the team to a 6-4 win. And while Powell was in his final year with the team before aging up to the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP), the win proved to Collins how committed Powell was to his hockey team.

“It was one of the best wins I’ve had as a coach,” Collins said. “And I did it with Seamus Powell really leading the way.”

Powell would go on to play his next two seasons at the under-17 and 18 NTDP levels, following the footsteps of his brother Eamon, who is two years older. Eamon also spent time with Rochester as well as Powell’s prior team, the Syracuse Nationals. The brothers have shared the same journey, with youth hockey age limit rules ensuring that as soon as Eamon left for the next age group, Powell would immediately take his place.

Though Powell and Eamon shared the same hockey path, they frequently competed off the ice. At their home in Marcellus, New York, the Powell brothers went against each other in a variety of sports including basketball and baseball, Eamon said, with the two never wanting to admit defeat.

In less than a year, however, Powell and Eamon’s hockey journeys will finally converge, as they are set to become teammates for the first time along the blue line for Boston College next season, a team Eamon has played for during the last two years. Powell will do so after over a hundred games at the NTDP level and various years of Tier I hockey between clubs in Syracuse and Rochester.

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Most of those teams posted winning records, but next year, Powell will join his brother on the defensive unit for a Boston College squad that has qualified for the NCAA Tournament just once in the last four years. Collins said he thinks Powell — a 6-foot tall defenseman — is ready to tackle that next level.

“Seamus is a big strong kid. He’s a great skater. He makes skating look effortless, and I think he’s going to … be a big presence on the back end, great skater (and) good puck mover,” Collins said. “He’s going to solidify the back end there.”

The decision was unilaterally welcomed, as Powell held the program and its winning history in high esteem. He is particularly looking forward to playing under coach Jerry York, he said. Eamon, of course, was also excited.

“I’ve been watching him play hockey since he was really young, so to finally get the chance to possibly play with him … I think that’ll be really cool,” Eamon said.

Despite his freshman status, Powell is no stranger to making an impact in wins. In a four-game trip to Switzerland this past November with the NTDP, Powell helped spur the USA U18 National Team Development Program to a perfect sweep over European squads from Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Finland. Powell, a left-handed defenseman, was a part of a blue line unit that surrendered just five goals during the dominant tour, headlined by a shutout in a 7-0 win over Switzerland.

“It was pretty special for me,” Powell said about the tournament. “That had to be the No. 1 (experience) right there.”

Boston College boasts an illustrious program history, featuring five national titles, including one as recent as 2012. Despite that, Powell remains pragmatic, insisting that he will continue to take things day by day and survey his prospects when the time is right. Through it all, though, he will have Eamon playing alongside him.

“It’s special,” Powell said. “But you know, it’s just like another guy on the team … but coming from the same family. We all have the same goal: to win a national championship.”

Published on April 6, 2022 at 10:28 pm

Contact Charlie: cnfellow@syr.edu