There is little doubt that Scott Conway is the most intriguing name on Great Britain’s roster as they look to progress through the 2022 Olympic Qualification Preliminary Round 3, Group J in Nottingham this week.
(Preview is here: https://wp.me/p2gDti-SX)

So just how did Conway get selected despite having never donned a GB jersey before?

“I reached out to GB saying I was able to play this year as during college I don’t think I would have been allowed to miss games. As it’s my first year of pro I thought why not, just let them know that I was interested and they said yea, you’re on board.”

When asked if representing GB had been something Conway had strived for he responded by saying “Absolutely, its an honour to represent your country, whenever you can, whatever you do.”

Conway received the news from Peter Russell by email with the rookie forward difficult to contact by phone what with the time difference and long-distance road trips in the ECHL by bus.

The 24-year-old is in his rookie season in North America and penned an AHL contract with Providence Bruins after finishing up in the NCAA with Providence College.
Conway selected the Bruins over Iowa Wild and Bakersfield Condors because the Providence organisation spent a lot of time watching the British forward play and communicating with him beforehand.

It’s no surprise then that Providence granted Conway permission to leave North America to represent his country for the first time.

“I had to get the okay from Providence to play this week. I had to reach out to Mr (John)Ferguson, the general manager. I guess they had to talk it over with the whole of the organisation to make a decision but they came back and said it was fine.”

Conway’s rookie season is faring rather well to this point. Five points (3-2-5) in twelve AHL outings and 23 points (13-10-23) in 29 ECHL games.

When I mentioned his ECHL numbers to Conway his response was that of a player striving for more.

“I should have more than that. Some bounces don’t go your way all the time. I did pretty well in Providence too (five points in twelve games) especially seeing a fourth-line role and not too many minutes, so I was proud of that.”

Special teams are normally crucial in these short IIHF tournaments so I asked Conway about whether he had much experience in that department early in his professional career.

“It’s challenging playing for Providence and seeing special teams play. I mean respectfully their draft picks [Boston Bruins] receive full opportunity first. I saw a little PK time there (Providence) which is great, they trusted me when I was up there which was unbelievable too. They have a great coaching staff and the trust in me is great. In the ECHL for Atlanta (Gladiators) I received a lot of power-play time and stuff like that. It’s just great to get a lot of ice time down there.”

So will Britain’s rookie receive some time on special teams this week?

“We got our power play lines today (Wednesday). Think I was on it, was nice to see, obviously now got to do well.”
“The first step was getting on the power play, the second step is being successful on the power play.”

Conway describes his game as being “a smart guy, who moves the puck well, has a great shot and good hands in close.” Without any prompting, he also mentioned his weakness. “Downfall is my skating.”
That speaks a lot to me that a young professional knows what he has to work harder on and when I asked if his shot was his greatest strength he responded by agreeing. “My shot is my biggest strength and I love to shoot the puck.”

Watch out for that on the powerplay GB fans.

The GB group are notoriously a tight-knit unit these days which is a huge part of their success so I asked Scott how he has acclimatised in the last two days.

“The guys are hilarious. They are good guys. They are great players obviously because they’re playing for Great Britain too. But it was a nice warm welcome when I came into the locker room. Everyone is so friendly. Just class acts and it was great.”
Conway went on to tell me that he has played some junior hockey with Ollie Betteridge and Ross Venus so there are some familiar faces in the room. There’s also Brett Perlini, Conway’s cousin! The hockey world is rather really small when it comes down to it.

On the family theme, I wondered if Conway was going to have support here this week as he pulls on a GB sweater for the first time.

“My mum and my sister made the trip down from Barton-Upon-Humber. So they are coming down to watch all three games. My nan isn’t doing too well right now but hoping she can make it down to see me at some point. It’s great to be back in England, where I grew up playing and see familiar surroundings.”

Scott’s Dad, Kevin is something of a legend in UK hockey, specifically in Basingstoke but I didn’t want to dwell on this matter because I imagine it’s a topic the centre man has been quizzed about many times.

However, he did say this about his father:

“My Dad has always been there for me, no matter where I am, or what I’m doing he will come out once or twice, three for four times a year and watch me play. He always gives me pointers and indicates what to do. But hey his era is finished, it’s my era now so [this was said with a huge smile on Scott’s case] but yea it’s great to have your dad around.”
“When I first came to the locker room the guys were telling me funny stories about him (Dad). So it was fun to chat with some of these guys that have worked with my Dad before.”

So what does the future hold for Conway beyond this tournament and season? Is Europe a possibility?

“It’s possible I come to Europe. I’m going to give it a shot over there (NA) first. My goal is to make the NHL and I’m going to try and do whatever it takes to achieve that. If not then, I’ve always got over here [England], I have my passport. I think that’s a huge bonus for me. A couple of teams have already reached out to me in the last couple of years (Elite League).

Scott Conway is a very engaging young man and was very excited to be making his debut on the international scene this week when I spoke with him.
Great Britain might have found a player with a key ingredient this week as a potentially potent weapon on the power play and someone that opponents won’t have had a read on heading into this competition.

My thanks to Scott for his time and best wishes for this tournament, the rest of the season in North America and beyond.