Hockey star Abby Newhook, 14, to spread her wings with Boston College Eagles

Abby Newhook doesn't turn 15 until May but she already knows where she's going to college. That's because the school — Boston College — has already asked her.

Newhook, who just wrapped up a stint with the St. John's/North team at the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games — the team won silver — laced up her skates when she was three.

She chose the sport because she looked up to her older brother Alex who, as it happens, has also committed to Boston College and could be playing there as early as this fall.

It was really when I started putting the work in that I thought that something good was gonna come out of it.- Abby Newhook

"My brother started playing hockey when he was younger, and I always wanted to be like him and stuff, so I kind of just followed after him and I was always at the rink with him, so then I just decided, you know what? I'm just going to start playing myself," the Macdonald Drive Junior High Grade 9 student told CBC's Weekend AM.

Alex Newhook currently plays with the Victoria Grizzlies, a junior A team in the British Columbia Hockey League. He leads the league in points-per-game, despite being in his rookie season.

While Alex is a top prospect for the 2019 NHL entry draft, Abby is certainly no slouch either.

"Over the past couple of years, I've gotten a lot better," she said. "It was really when I decided to put the work in that I thought that something good was gonna come out of it."

That "something good" is recruitment from Boston College, which she visited last summer and decided was a good fit for her — she'll start playing for the Eagles in 2021.

Checking 'makes the game more intense'

Abby Newhook is on the ice five or six days a week, including private lessons in the mornings to "work on the little things that my team doesn't focus on as much," and does off-ice training as well.

In St. John's, she plays with the boys' Bantam AAA Hitmen.

"I've played with boys my whole life, so I'm just kind of used to it now," she said. "Last year I was introduced to hitting, which doesn't seem to affect my game that much. I really like it ... I think it makes the game more intense." 

With a few more years before she goes to college, Newhook knows she's got a lot of training to do to meet her goals.

"I've gotta put a lot of work into it, and I've got to keep training hard."