Colin Greening was born on March 9th, 1986 in St. John’s, NL. Greening is the youngest of two siblings, and is the son of Fred and Joanne Greening. “Baby G”, as he is known by his closest friends, was a regular at Xtreme Hockey during his youth. As he graduated into his teens, Colin did off-ice training with Xtreme and was also a program staff member.
Greening played minor hockey with Avalon from Squirt to Bantam. After Bantam, Greening played Midget AAA with the St. John’s Maple Leafs before moving to Toronto to attend Upper Canada College (Canadian prep). Greening’s hockey ascent began when he was acquired by Nanaimo (BCHL), where he played one season and was a physically dominant force. Greening’s size, intelligence and work ethic were keys for Cornell University, who signed him to a scholarship in 2006. Colin played four seasons with Cornell, registering over 100 points and wearing the captain’s “C” during his tenure there.
Colin was drafted in the 7th round by the Ottawa Senators in 2005, but did not sign a contract until his college days were complete. While most 7th round draft picks never see action in the National League, Greening defied the odds and has played 255 games in “the show” primarily as a role player. Greening was also a key cog in the 2012-13 NHL playoff run for the Sens, picking up 3 goals and 1 assist in 10 games.