50 Players, 50 Days: Darren Donovan
April 7, 2020
During the current and unforeseen cancelation of the 2019-20 season, the players in the NA3HL saw their seasons cut prematurely short. In some cases, players saw their junior hockey careers come to an end as well. However, the NA3HL got together a decided to highlight some of those players, who were born in 1999 and were in their final season of playing junior hockey.
As a result, we present a new series entitled: 50 players, 50 days
50 players in 50 days will select 50 players from each of the 34 NAHL teams this past season that were born in 1999, who are currently uncommitted, and deserve some recognition during their time spent playing and developing in the NA3HL. Over the course of the next 50 days, we will take time out to look at their accomplishments, review their season, and provide some background on their NA3HL careers. Players will be initially highlighted in alphabetical order by team. Enjoy!
Darren Donovan, Forward, Helena Bighorns
After an impressive 32-goal, 58-point rookie season in Helena, Darren Donovan, 20, stepped into an even more prominent role in the 2019-20 campaign.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of Fairbanks, AK put up strong numbers with the 2019 Frontier Division Champs during the 2018-19 season, earning a nomination to the 2019 Top Prospects Tournament where he bagged a goal and an assist in three games.
Donovan came up clutch in Helena's 2019 run to the Fraser Cup Championship Tournament as well, netting a total of seven goals and nine assists for sixteen points in eight total games, including a goal and two helpers at the championship in Chicago.
This season, Donovan became the team's leading scorer, posting 29 goals, 23 assists and 52 points despite a tough year for the Bighorns as a team. Donovan's NA3HL career saw him score 61 goals and 49 assists for 110 points in just 85 regular-season games.
Donovan's pre-NA3HL days were spent on youth and high school teams around the country, starting at North Pole High in Alaska from 2014-16, during which time he struck for 10 goals and 21 points in 17 games, then moving to the Iowa Wild 18U AAA program for the 2016-17 campaign, where he bagged 3g-3a--6pts in nine games. From there, he moved on to play for the Nashville Jr. Predators 18U for 13 games in 2017-18, putting up four goals and three assists, before finding his way to Helena in 2018.
