Nolan Boyd of the Ontario Hockey League’s Aurora Tigers (photo credit – Tim Bates / OJHL Images & Maritime Junior Hockey League) has confirmed his commitment to join the York University Lions in the OUA and U SPORTS  beginning with the 2022-23  season.

The Halifax-area product was traded to Aurora Nov. 5 after spending four seasons with Grand Falls of the Maritime Junior Hockey League. 

The 20-year-old is third in wins (13) and fifth in both goals against average (2.06) and save percentage (.925) in the 21-team OJHL.

"Nolan has been nothing short of outstanding since coming to Aurora,” said Tigers General Manager and Assistant Coach Robert Powers. “Obviously, his numbers speak for themselves in terms of his play, but it's the type of person Nolan is off the ice that really makes him special. All it takes is one look at how much work he's put towards raising money and awareness for mental health to understand what a quality person he is.

“We're very proud of him for continuing his hockey and academic career at York University, and have no doubts that he will continue to be extremely successful on and off the ice."

Boyd, who speaks publicly about his own mental health journey, introduced the Saves for Life campaign while playing in the Maritimes. For every save, Boyd donated $1. With the help of a GoFundMe page, along with his own funds, he donated over $6,000 to the Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention. 

The campaign continues in Ontario with his goal to reach $20,000 in donations this year. 

Boyd made the move to Ontario for “exposure and a new fresh start.” And his solid season in the OJHL has done just that, drawing interest from schools in Canada and the United States. York, in the north end of Toronto, made the most sense.

“It just felt like a great fit for me”, he told the OJHL this week. “I was super comfortable with the information (Head Coach Russ Herrington) was providing me and what York University had to offer. It was a pretty easy decision to make, obviously with my family by my side. I just can’t be more grateful for the situation I’m in right now.”

Boyd will study psychology with an eye on a career in mental health.

How has the adjustment been from Nova Scotia to the GTA?

“Definitely a big culture change,” he said. “Kind of a funny story, when Jim Thompson (Aurora’s governor) first called me, he said you’re playing in a small community of 65,000. I was playing in a small community of 5,000 before that so I kind of got a good chuckle out of that.”

“It’s definitely awesome. I really like the city life.”

York coach Herrington coached at Markham and Streetsville in the OJHL from 1996-2006.

Former OJHL players on York’s 2021-22 roster include: Michael Mannara (Oakville, Trenton, Orangeville), Brandon Yeamans (Mississauga, North York), Justin Bean (Wellington), Lucas Breault (St. Michael’s), C.J. Clarke (Milton, Toronto Jr. Canadiens), Damian Figueria (Stouffville), Brendan Bonello (Pickering, Jr. Canadiens), Dalton Ewing (Jr. Canadiens, Newmarket), David Sherman (Jr. Canadiens) and Derek McVey (Burlington, Georgetown, Oakville, Milton, Whitby).

Congratulations to Nolan and best of luck in the OUA and U SPORTS!!

About the OJHL –  “League of Choice”

The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 22 member clubs. A proud member of the CJHL and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94. With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including U SPORTS, the NCAA, CHL, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL had more than 125 commitments in 2019-20– including more than 45 NCAA Division I scholarships.