Dion rose above injury to excel on ice

GREATEST ATHLETE NO. 68

Massena’s Tom Dion was one of those high school students who excelled in almost everything he tried, whether it was in the classroom or on the field.

But he possessed one extra attribute that came in handy on more than one occasion — the dedication to overcome adversity.

Dion recovered from a separated shoulder his junior year in high school and a knee injury his junior year in college to put together remarkable careers at both levels.

By the time his athletic career was over, Dion had established himself as one of the top defensemen to compete for the Boston University hockey team, one of the best NCAA Division I programs in the country.

Dion played five seasons for BU — he red-shirted his junior year after blowing out his knee — totaling 22 goals and 57 assists for his career. He played in 75 games for BU after coming back from the injury, a surprise to doctors who initially believed that Dion would never play hockey again.

“Frankly, the doctors weren’t very optimistic about his chances for playing again,” BU coach Jack Parker told the Times in 1991.

But Dion had been through something like this before. In late October, 1985, during a Massena football game against Carthage, Dion separated his shoulder and was finished for the season. But he worked hard enough during his rehabilitation to play for the hockey team that winter and finish with 8 goals and 29 assists to make the first of two Times All-North hockey teams.

By his senior year in high school, Dion was captain of the football team and played quarterback. He made the All-North team as a defensive back. He was captain and an All-North pick in hockey, too, and batted .426 as third baseman for the Red Raiders baseball team. Massena won two sectional hockey titles during Dion’s stay. Dion also skated on the national midget team and the national junior select team in 1986 and played in the Empire State Games twice.

Dion made an immediate impact for BU, making the all-Hockey East rookie squad in 1988 with 24 points in 34 games. He added 18 points in 33 games his sophomore year before suffering the knee injury three games into his junior year. The following year, Dion began as the Terriers’ seventh defenseman, but worked his way up, competing in a personal-best 40 games during the 1990-91 season and supplying 20 points. The Terriers won the Hockey East championship that March.

The following year was the crowning season for Dion. As a senior, he was named captain. He helped BU win its third straight Beanpot Tournament and make it to the NCAA Tournament a third straight year. Dion supplied 17 points in 35 games and was picked to Hockey East’s first team. He was also named a national All-American.

Dion played one year of professional hockey as a Montreal Canadiens draft choice, skating for the Wheeling Thunderbirds of the East Coast Hockey League during the 1992-93 season. He registered five goals and 17 assists in 60 games.

Dion is now senior vice president for sales and marketing for Capital Management Group in Boston. He lives in Marshfield, Mass., with his wife, Kelly, and three children.