Trent Grimshaw is heading back to his childhood home after finishing his junior hockey career with the Maine Nordiques.

The 21-year-old, who moved to Saline, Michigan as a freshman in high school after his dad received a job opportunity, has committed to Oswego State — a perennial Division III powerhouse in Oswego, New York where he grew up — for next season.

“It’s really cool, it’s my hometown, they are a great program,” Grimshaw said. “It’s a D3 school, but they run it like a Division I program. I have a ton of family there still, so that’s awesome and everyone is excited that I am coming back. I am excited I am coming back to see everyone and be around family for four years.”

The Lakers were second in attendance in Division III this past season, averaging 2,073 fans a game.

Grimshaw said he’s still undecided on what he’s going to study, but he’s looking at business management, sports management or communications.

Grimshaw was sixth on the Nordiques in scoring with 22 goals and nine assists in 49 games this season for the North American Hockey League club.

“Trent always brought about a calm sense to him, but could throw the body around when the time came,” Nordiques coach Nolan Howe said in an NAHL press release. “Trent’s speed and ice awareness found himself in a lot of high-quality scoring spaces on the ice and converted. Trent was also key on the power play as he tallied 11 power-play goals and was loved by Nordique Nation.”

The 5-foot-8, 170-pound forward said it was a busy couple of months in finding a place to play for next season.

“It’s been a weird two months, that’s for sure,” Grimshaw added. “Obviously not playing and I got a couple of calls from new schools that I really didn’t think were watching me and then they came in later (in the process). It just came down to making a decision.”

Oswego State plays in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC), where the Lakers went 16-10-1 in 2019-20 before they lost in the SUNYAC conference finals to Geneseo. The Lakers also competed in the 2014 NCAA Division III Frozen Four, which was held in Lewiston, where they lost to Wisconsin-Stevens Point 2-1 in the semifinal. The 2014 Frozen Four was their fifth trip to the Frozen Four in a row. The Lakers haven’t made it back to the Frozen Four since then, but have made the NCAA tournament eight times in the past 11 seasons. In 2007 they won their only Division III National Championship.

USPHL SPRING SHOWCASE CANCELED

On Wednesday, the United States Premier Hockey League canceled the Spring Showcase, which was scheduled to run June 5-8 at various sites around New England because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The showcase was going to be the only opportunity for the Twin City Thunder to evaluate players in person for the upcoming National Collegiate Development Conference Draft on June 10. The Thunder had their ID camp — which was scheduled in late April — canceled because of the pandemic. 

The USPHL also announced its annual Summer Showcase is scheduled to take place July 17-19, a month before the Thunder has scheduled its main camp, which is set to take place August 19-23. 

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