Alex Killorn's father, once a doubter, now fully on board
Matt Killorn is a man who is not afraid to admit he was wrong. He proved as much in a recent NHL feature on son Alex Killorn, who currently plays top-six minutes as a forward for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The elder Killorn said his doubts about Alex mostly centered on his son's decision to take the college route to the NHL.
"I remember having the discussions with my wife, because she's a teacher by profession, and she was really advocating strongly the school route, which was obviously the right choice," Matt Killorn said to NHL.com. "But there was always a piece of me thinking, 'Is this really the right path?' There were a lot of people who told us that if you choose Harvard you're kind of saying no to professional hockey, because at that time Harvard wasn't really considered a strong hockey school."
Alex Killorn changed all of that. Not only did he graduate Harvard with a 3.5 GPA and a degree in political science, he also worked his way up the Tampa system to play on a line with Steven Stamkos and help Tampa contend for a Stanley Cup Championship this season. Killorn ranks ninth among NHL players with 17 points in 22 postseason games this year.
Although he graduated from Harvard three years ago, Killorn has not totally abandoned his Crimson roots. According to NHL.com, he is beginning to dabble with investments in real estate and he connected with other Harvard graduates in the Tampa area.
But for now, his main focus remains hockey, and his father is just as impressed by Killorn's success as most NHL fans.
"I always thought, 'OK, he's got his degree and he's going to be a good hockey player,' but I didn't necessarily think he'd be performing at this level at this point," Matt Killorn said to NHL.com.
(h/t NHL)
Photo credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
