When Sean Keohane was taken in the third round, 38th overall, by the Tri-City Storm in this spring’s USHL Phase ll Draft, many assumed he would leave Dexter Southfield for Kearney, Nebraska. However, Keohane feels he has unfinished business in bringing an Elite 8 championship to the Brookline, Mass., prep school.
Keohane, a Milton, Mass., native and Harvard commit, plans to play for Tri-City next season and is considered one of the top prep school players in the region. He could hear his name called early at the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville next June.
But for now, the rangy and smooth-skating defenseman is playing fall split-season hockey for the U-18 Cape Cod Whalers after having another successful summer playing in the Foxboro Summer Prep League.
“It was my third summer playing in the league,” Keohane said. “It is always super fun and a blast to play with and against friends and teammates. We go hard after each other.”
Keohane played on Team Franzosa, coached by Dave Franzosa, who also coaches him on the Whalers.
“The summer team is also the fall team with the Whalers, so we have good chemistry and momentum and are ready to go in the fall, which is great,” Keohane said.
Keohane also put in the time in the gym at Athletic Conditioning Training at Mark Bavis Ice Arena in Rockland, Mass., under Shane Relihan.
“It’s a great group of fellow prep players, eight to 10 guys that I work out with. We challenge each other,” Keohane said.
He sustained a shoulder injury recently that could pose a short-term setback, but he is poised for a big season. His time in the gym has paid off. Since the end of his prep season in March, Keohane has put on eight pounds of muscle and is now 6-foot-4, 190 pounds.
Back to that unfinished business. As the fall hockey jamboree and tournaments begin, Keohane faces a different situation than a lot of fellow 2004 birth-year players who did leave for the USHL or BCHL.
“I want to carve out my own path,” Keohane said. “I love Dexter Southfield, the community. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience and I want to pay it back to my teachers and staff and my coaches, especially Coach (Dan) Donato and to get back to the Elite 8 and win it.
“It’s also my senior year and I just want to spend it with family and friends and graduate from Dexter Southfield.”
Donato, the longtime Dexter Southfield coach, said, “Sean, I feel, is doing it the right way and he has certainly matured and developed at Dexter in all facets as a student and athlete. It’s great to hear him want to give back to the school, as we teach at Dexter to care about classmates and community.”
Scouting reports have Keohane as having excellent skating ability for his size and great range to take space and time away. How does Keohane describe his style?
“Being a bigger guy, I take pride in my defense first, being a shutdown defenseman, get the puck and move it out, get the job done,” he said. “I played with Matt Fusco (Westwood, Mass.) last year, who was more offensive, and I just concentrated on my defense and we were a good pair that way.”
There were questions about his game on offense, but Keohane had a breakout season last year that coaches and scouts were looking for. Never a big point producer in Midgets and prep, he put up four goals and 19 assists in 24 games. Donato said he will only improve on those numbers this year.
“One of the advantages to coming back to prep hockey is that Sean can get more touches of the puck, to rush the puck, take more chances to add more skill to his game,” Donato said. “Sean will lead the power play and we will look for him at times to take it to the net, crash the net, gain that offensive confidence. He also plays with an edge and is very competitive.”
The decision to stay is not unprecedented at Dexter. Former players including Ryan Donato (Harvard), Tim Harrison (Colgate), John Farinacci (Harvard) and Jack Rathbone (Harvard) stayed for their senior seasons and moved on to excellent college careers, with Donato and Rathbone playing in the NHL.
“Jack Rathbone is someone I’ve trained with and looked up to, a mentor to me,” said Keohane.
While school and hockey are a priority for Keohane, nothing is more important to him than his family. Earlier this summer the Keohane family, along with good friend Shane Dwan, a Dexter teammate, went to Ballinadee, Ireland.
“Ballinadee is a small village in South Cork, very close to popular tourist town Kinsale,” Keohane noted. “Ballinadee is where my cousins on my dad’s side of the family live, and my uncle lives there as well. My grandpa grew up there, so there are tons of family connections. We went for eight days and had not been there since 2019 because of COVID, so it was great to see everybody. We had a blast.”
Keohane will continue his development both in the classroom and ice. Ultimately, his goal is to get his diploma and lead Dexter Southfield back to the Elite 8 playoffs, and try to finish with a championship that has eluded the program for the past five years.
With his hard work, dedication and enthusiasm, he will set his sights on Tri-City in fall 2023, taking one more step toward a bright future.
