Shier suddenly leaves team, school

by Ryan Fay

There's an old saying that goes "here today, gone tomorrow."

That's certainly true when it comes to now-former Union freshman forward Kevin Shier.

Shier, who played in Saturday's 4-3 loss at Quinnipiac, informed Dutchmen head coach Rick Bennett the following day that he was leaving the team and the school.

"I asked if we could meet," Shier said when reached by phone. "I was just honest with him. I didn't blame anybody. He seemed understanding, and he was compassionate. It wasn't a long conversation. It was kind of straight-forward and then I was on my way."

Shier was honored with the New York State Conspicuous
Service Medal prior to a game vs Princeton on
Nov. 15.
photo credit: Matt Milless/MahiMattPhoto

The Toronto, Ontario native said the decision to leave was "personal" and added it was something he had been thinking about for awhile.

"It was a personal matter," he said. "It had nothing to do with the hockey program or Union College as a whole. It was just a personal decision I made with my family that I thought was best for me. Ultimately, I decided to come back to Toronto."

Shier thought Sunday was the right time to leave.

"I didn't want to continue with the program and maybe be a detriment to my teammates or whatever have you," he said. "It was something I thought I had to do, and I stand by that decision."

When asked if his experiences at Union were different than what was promised during recruitment, Shier said "not what I was promised, but maybe what I was expecting." He added that "it's easy to say and look back in hindsight. But I don't want to get into that stuff. It was my own decision, and I can't blame it on anybody else or any other factors. I'll leave it at that."

Shier said leaving his teammates was the hardest part of the decision. They were surprised by the news when he broke it to them Sunday afternoon.

"It was a hard afternoon for me to tell them," he said. "I went by individually and told all the players. It was tough after being so tight for the last four and a half months. Although they were quite surprised and sad I guess, they were very supportive. I've gotten a lot of texts and calls from them the last couple days making sure I'm doing okay. That's exactly what I expected."

When Shier arrived at Union, he looked like a potential future offensive star. He spent last season with the Ontario Junior Hockey League's Toronto Patriots, where he had 21 goals and 33 assists in 46 regular season games. The 21-year-old later led the team to the OJHL title after piling up 8 goals and 24 assists in 19 postseason games. He was named the MVP of the OJHL playoffs.

Those kind of numbers hadn't yet translated to Union. Shier, who was in good academic standing, had just two assists while playing in 13 out of a possible 21 games for the defending NCAA champions.

"We appreciate Kevin's contributions this season and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors," said Bennett.

Shier's tenure at Union will be best remembered for something he did off the ice while making a recruiting trip in Dec. 2013. He was among a group of people who helped rescue Guilderland native and New York Army National Guard Capt. Timothy Neild from a burning vehicle outside of Syracuse.

For his efforts, Shier was honored with the New York State Conspicuous Service Medal prior to a home game against Princeton on Nov. 15.

After that game, Bennett said Shier had perhaps his best performance to date with Union. But he was a healthy scratch for the next five games before playing in each of the most recent four.

"I was really happy with the opportunity the coaching staff gave me from when I was committed to when I stepped on campus," Shier said. "They gave me the opportunity to succeed."

Shier's future plans remain up in the air.

"I'm just taking it one day at a time," he said. "I just got back to Toronto [Monday night], so I'm going to spend some time with my family. I'll go from there and figure out the next steps."

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