Canton, N.Y. — Alex Gilmour is a happy camper.
A year and a half removed from his mid-season decision to join the St. Lawrence Saints, the former Pembroke Lumber Kings captain is enjoying the student-athlete experience at the upstate-New York university.
“It’s been good,” said Gilmour after a Tuesday afternoon practice at SLU’s historic Appleton Arena. “The student life is nice, having a bit of balance away from hockey, (and) it’s a small town, so it’s five minutes (to) the rink and everywhere else on campus.”
The 6-foot-4 forward — currently studying towards a business economics degree — looks back on his 69-game CCHL career with Pembroke fondly.
“Playing for an organization like Pembroke was pretty cool,” said Gilmour. “My time there was awesome, (I had) a great billet family — we struggled a little bit, but worked hard and always put our best foot forward.”
The student-athlete balance is something the Toronto, Ont. native is embracing.
“I have a little bit more responsibility now, in the library and in class,” explained Gilmour. “Then, when I get to the rink it’s gearing up and getting down to business.”
While the former PLK captain is the lone CCHL player on SLU’s roster at the moment, two more CCHLers — Ottawa’s Cameron White (2018-19) and Rockland’s Jordan Power (2020-21) — will suit up for the Skatin’ Saints in the coming years.
Beyond his collegiate career in Canton, the SLU forward sees a future at the professional level.
“I’ve got a couple more years here, (but) I’m going to work my butt off to try and play professional hockey somewhere,” said Gilmour. “Outside of hockey, I’ve always been interested in criminal law — (but) right now the focus is working hard here and trying to play professional.”
