Amherst native named MVP at World Junior Championship

AMHERST, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – A native Amherst hockey player and Pope Francis alum was named most valuable player on Sunday after clinching the gold for Team USA in the World Junior Championship Game. Ryan Leonard is no stranger to playing in big games with even bigger results. His most recent accomplishment is that MVP award and the gold medal in the championship game, where he led the team to a 4-3 win in overtime against Finland. The forward had five goals and five assists in the entirety of the tournament.

Victoria Dawson, Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools athletic director, watched Leonard grow up being close friends with his older sisters. “He’s a great kid has a lot of energy, get hit in the face with a puck and keeps playing. That’s just who Ryan is and always was,” she said.

It was no surprise to Dawson when Leonard was the number eight overall draft pick to the Washington Capitols in the 2023 NHL draft. “Since he was playing floor hockey, as a kid, he could hit the puck just as hard as he hits it now, it’s crazy,” Dawson added.

Western Mass News also spoke with Patrick Tabb, a skills coach at Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield, who saw Leonard’s dedication to the game from an early age. “He practices the way that he plays the game, so when he is here and training, the things he does then, are the things we see when we turn on the television set,” Tabb said.

His commitment to the game and his teammates was no surprise with Leonard being team USA’s captain. “To see that growth as a coach, we all knew he had it on the ice, but to see him off the ice and high level of character has been a great for me,” Tabb noted.

Leonard is currently a sophomore at Boston College and, between his time there and his time playing for the Washington Capitals, he has a long and exciting hockey career ahead of him.

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