Osiowy commits to Alvernia University

It didn’t take very long for Austin Osiowy to expect the unexpected

The 21-year-old Virden Oil Capitals defenceman from Calgary was convinced he’d play his entire junior career in his hometown, but soon had his expectations turned upside down when he realized nothing ever really goes to plan.

“I’ve been a few places, for sure,” Osiowy said with a chuckle. “I started off in the AJ (Alberta Junior Hockey League) and honestly at the time, I thought that I was gonna play there my whole career and love it and everything was gonna go perfectly, and it definitely threw a wrench in that plan.

“It’s not how I ever pictured my career going when I was 17 years old starting to play my first junior games and where I thought I would end up at all, especially with all my expectations of everything, but I am super glad everything happened for a reason and it made me a better person, reacting to everything in a positive way, so now I couldn’t be more happy with the opportunity I have now.”

Osiowy’s never had the longest shelf life with teams, but he’s hoping this time reveals different results as his never-ending journey now takes him to Reading, Penn., after recently committing to Alvernia University to play NCAA Division III with the Golden Wolves for the 2026-27 season.

He said he’s looking forward to starting a new chapter of his life, and not just on the ice.

“I’m really excited, it’s gonna be great,” said Osiowy, who will be studying engineering. “It’s beautiful out there from the bit I’ve seen and I’ve talked to guys who have played there and lived there and it seems really awesome.

“I’m super happy to get the experience of living on the East Coast and going to school to play hockey, so the challenge basically of juggling school, hockey and living will be intense. I’ve lived away from home for a while but never this far, so I’m excited for the challenges and the people I’m gonna meet and just sort of see what I’m capable of, to push myself.”

Alvernia is approximately a 36-hour drive from home for Osiowy, so to say he would have anticipated this fit, even a few years ago, would have been a stretch, but the same could also be said for his four years in junior.

Osiowy originally started out fairly close to Calgary, being just an hour and a half ride away in Drumheller, playing for the Dragons after signing with the AJHL club for fall 2023. He played one game before going one province over to join the Kindersley Klippers in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, where he collected five goals, 22 points and 68 penalty minutes in 47 games.

The five-foot-11, 180-pound right-shot blue-liner enjoyed Kindersley, noting how great the community was and how much he also learned about himself regarding what his best attributes are and how they contribute to a team.

Osiowy’s play drew interest from the U.S., and in his next year, he would head over to the North American Hockey League to play for the North Iowa Bulls. He said it was the most eye-opening experience he’s ever had.

“I had the opportunity to go play in Iowa and I thought if I had a chance to travel to the U.S. for free and play hockey down there and experience it, I always knew in the back of my mind I might want to go to school in the U.S., so if it makes sense now to try to go down there and see how I like it, it would make sense,” Osiowy said. “I’m super glad I did that, I met people and played with people from Japan, South Korea, I just met so many people from all over like my billets, locals, people from Boston, New York, it was definitely an eye-opening experience, so I’m really glad I did it.”

In 55 contests, Osiowy had two goals, 13 points and 32 penalty minutes for the Bulls. Osiowy said at that point, he was still trying to figure out the defensive side of his game, as the offence always came pretty naturally. His time in the NAHL didn’t stick past a year, as he headed back to Kindersley last fall.

Osiowy grabbed three goals and 11 points through 23 games during his second tour with the Klippers and then was traded in November along with rookie forward Kelan Simmonds to the Melfort Mustangs in exchange for player development fees.

And you’d think after being traded once, he’d at least maybe be able to cling onto some security, however after 11 showings with the Mustangs, Osiowy was once again on the move. This time to Virden.

While Osiowy was getting used to frequently moving around, he said he also felt surprised given the fact Melfort had previously told him they were planning on sticking with him for the remainder of the season. Then again, expect the unexpected — even on game day.

“We had a pregame skate and I was in the lineup packing my bag ready to go, doing my stretches and stuff and then I got called in and I thought to talk about something else like special teams or something,” said Osiowy. “Turns out, they told me they’re looking at a trade for me and it was definitely a lot of shock because I didn’t really know what to think at the time, so that was my first impression.”

Soon enough, Osiowy realized the small town in rural Manitoba would be just what he needed.

On the ice, he played first pairing minutes beside captain Ty Plaisier, a recent Minot State University commit who also played with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League for parts of two seasons from 2022 to 2024. Osiowy racked up five goals, 15 points and 25 penalty minutes through 27 games, helping the Oil Capitals top the West Division thanks to a 39-14-5 record.

He also honed the defensive side of his game too, which is evident in the way head coach Tyson Ramsey trusted him to log heavy minutes on any given night.

“My first two years I was power play all the time, scoring a lot, offence, offence and then I sort of had to get more defensive, which was weird for me,” Osiowy admitted. “I feel like in my third year, when I came back to Canada to play closer to home, I really put my offensive and defensive game together, and I always said I was a two-way defender, but I feel this year was the first time I truly lived and embodied that sense of being super reliable on the D side, but also being able to create offensive opportunities.”

Osiowy, with the help of Plaisier, continued his steady play in the post-season, as Virden made it all the way to the Turnbull Cup final following a sweep of the Neepawa Titans and six-game conquest of the higher-seeded Steinbach Pistons. It certainly didn’t end in all sunshines and rainbows, as he and his club eventually gassed out to the powerhouse Niverville Nighthawks — who eventually went on to capture the Centennial Cup a few weeks ago in Summerside, P.E.I. — but Osiowy was more than happy to be a part of the ride.

“Ending up in Virden where we got to go all the way, it honestly was pretty much a perfect end,” he said. “The playoff run was just something special. I only went to playoffs once in my career before this and this is what I really wanted in my 20-year-old season, that was the big thing for me was having a chance to go far and play in those games with sold-out barns and meaningful hockey, so I got to do that for three rounds and it was amazing.

“I’ll remember it for the rest of my life and I thought I played some of the best hockey I have ever played, same with most guys on our team, everybody stepped up at one moment or another and I’m super thankful that Coach Ramsey brought me in and believed in me and thought I was the guy to help the Oil Caps achieve what we did.”

What made the playoff push even sweeter was how close the team was off the ice, according to Osiowy.

“That was a special group, no doubt,” Osiowy added. “For me, I’ve been on teams where it’s been either way, but this team was incredibly tight and every guy had each other’s back in whatever way it was, setting up for each other, blocking shots and just the community aspect of it from the team to the coaching staff, trainers and volunteers. Everybody had the same mindset of doing it together and it was just amazing to be a part of

“It was seeing the community rally, seeing the guys and just the level of hockey and playing game after game in front of a sold-out crowd was just incredible.”

Osiowy may now be heading to Alvernia, but the truth is that he’s also taking his prior destinations with him too. He believes each and every one of those experiences have shaped him in some way and he’s not ready to forget about them just yet.

“I couldn’t imagine my life without parts of Virden, Kindersley, North Iowa, but I didn’t expect to play in any of those places either,” he said. “Honestly, I thought I was going to stay in Alberta the entire way, but I’m super glad I got to meet all those people and just sort of learn that you can’t plan everything, it’s just how you react that matters.

“How I look at it overall in life is you can expect and you can plan as much as you want, but it’s probably not gonna go that way and it’s just how you answer it and go with it. I never thought I’d end my junior career in Virden and I never thought that would be a place I’d play but I am so grateful that I did end up playing here and got the experience.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com