Meet the new Tommies - Andrew Estey

Another local talent will suit up for the Tommies this season. Andrew Estey will be a familiar face to some as a product of the local minor hockey system. Andrew then headed to a Connecticut prep school and then west to play for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the BCHL where he put up good numbers and challenged for the team lead in points in his one year of play. American NCAA teams were very impressed by his performance and eventually he signed on with the Union College Dutchmen where he achieved All-Academic honours in Engineering.

Photo Credit: unionathletics.com

Andrew is full of potential as the following quote demonstrates.

Estey is able to dominate the BCHL with his strength. He has a very good understanding of positioning, both offensively and defensively. He reads the play well on both ends of the ice, and knows when he must get back to cover for a teammate that has been caught out of position. His defensive-zone coverage is strong for the league and he moves very well in the offensive zone to find the open spaces, part of the reason for his 11 power play goals.

Giallonardo da giocare in Italia

As the title says in Italian, Paul Giallonardo is playing in Italy for the L'Alleghe Hockey Club. This has been previously reported, but we have more details on Paul's future.

Photo Credit: www.stu.ca

Poorly translated:

L' Alleghe Hockey Canadian Tegola has engaged today the young Canadian defender Paul Giallonardo. Been born the 29/02/1984 to Unionville, Ontario is high 191 cm for 95 kg, left stick, has begun its career in the Windsor Spitfires di Mike Kelly in the 2001/02 rimanendovi till the 2004/05, its better season in which has put to sign 8 goal and 28 assist in 68 left (the 80 minuteren of penalty) and 7 left points in 11 of playoffs (2+5). From the 2005/06 it is passed to university alloy CIS with the St. Thomas played University in which to for 3 seasons till the 2007/08, when he has collected 18 points in 28 left (3+15) with 56 minuteren of penalty. To emphasize that during the last few years the level of the Canadian university alloy has grown a lot, to a level comparable to the American NCAA. “Paul represents an investment for the future” declares the Renato President Rossi who adds: “We have moreover an option in order to confirm it for 5 years if it had to become Italian”. Possibility than more concrete since Giallonardo will obtain the Italian citizenship in the next weeks. A purchase that goes therefore to complete the roster of the Civette di Mike Kelly, than in the role of president of the Spitfires had had way to appreciate for a long time its large one upgrades them.

Tommies set to howl on CKTP!

The Tommies men will be back on the local airwaves and internet this season with 95.7 CKTP "The Wolf" broadcasting the St. Thomas games.

The live game broadcasts will continue with the new carrier after two seasons on Positive Hits-Joy FM. No word as of yet on the return of Randy Corey as play-by-play announcer.

CKTP will carry all 28 regular season games as well as the Tommies playoff action. The first broadcast will be October 17th at Moncton when STU takes on UdeM.

Update: The Gleaner has more, including the news that Randy Corey has a "verbal agreement" with CKTP to continue as the "Voice of the Tommies".

Gleaner: Tommies in rebuilding mode

Full Article

If you're a regular reader of this site, not many surprises, however there are a few new items, most we'd heard but not "officially", including another new addition.

Within the article, you'll find news on some of last year's Tommies - both grads and those "moving on" - as well as the newest Tommie, Andrew Estey. We'll have more on Andrew in the days to come.

Golf Tourney on Friday

A reminder, Tommie fans: The 2008 Leroy Washburn Golf Classic is coming up on Friday. This year's tournament will once again be held at the beautiful Mactaquac Golf Course. The cost is $130 per person. Your registration fee includes your green fees, golf cart, lunch, a special gift and a tax receipt for $50. All proceeds from the tournament will go toward continuing the long tradition of excellence in varsity athletics at St. Thomas.

Plus, we're told that details on the upcoming season's radio broadcasts will be announced. Stay tuned, we'll update you on all the details as soon as they're announced.

Meet the new Tommies - Wesley Welcher

Wesley Welcher, formerly of the St. John's Fog Devils, has committed to the Tommies.

From the official site:

Wes is a forward from Newfoundland and has just finished a four year career in the QMJHL. Originally a first round pick of the Moncton Wildcats, Wes played his last three years with the Fog Devils in St. Johns. Wes was a key player with St. Johns, scoring 61 goals over his past three seasons.

We're excited about Wes' addition to the Green and Gold. An all around player, Wes can put the puck in the net, is solid in the faceoff circle, can play the powerplay and the penalty kill, and by all accounts is a character player with leadership abilities.

Interesting Facts: Wes' nickname is Yoda, he snores and spits in his sleep, loves Ron Burgundy but hates Neil Diamond.









Welcome to the Tommies, Wesley, and Good Luck!

Bateman joins IHL Icehawks

Photo Credit: Ian MacAlpine
Former Tommies standout Jeffrey Bateman has signed a deal with the IHL's Port Huron Icehawks for the 2008 - 2009 season. Icehawks head coach Stan Drulia says of the signing:

Signing Bateman is an important upgrade for us as we rebuild our team... He can play in all situations and will make the players around him better. With AHL experience, he knows what it takes to get to the next level and will pass those skills on to our younger players.

One of the key cogs in the Tommies offence for the past 3 seasons, Bateman had better than a point per game average in both playoffs and regular season for the Green and Gold. Jeff's AUS career was unfortunately cut short with a leg injury suffered in last year's Pete Kelly Cup tournament. Jeff's career totals with the Tommies: 23 goals and 51 assists for 74 points in 63 regular season contests; 1 goal and 13 assists for 14 points in 11 playoff games. He led the Tommies in scoring in the 06-07 season (13-23-36) and led the team with a remarkable 1.8 point per game pace and +11 rating in his abbreviated 07-08 campaign. Jeff quietly went about his business for the Tommies, performing at a high level and making those around him better hockey players, while unfortunately never receiving the accolades he deserved in the way of official award recognition by the AUS. Rest assured, Jeff is appreciated by Tommies fans who have enjoyed watching him at the Beav.

Meet the new Tommies - Ben Macfarlane

From the Tommies' site:

Ben is an excellent goaltender who joins the Tommies after a five year junior career that started and ended in Woodstock. During his his Major Junior career he played in Shawinigan and Rimouski. This past season he came back to Woodstock and led them to the MJAHL final where they lost to Yarmouth.

Ben was drafted into the QMJHL by Shawinigan in the 9th round (140) and was traded to Rimouski in December 2006. Ben is listed at 6'0 198 lbs and would seem to be the heir apparent as Matt Davis enters his final year with the Tommies. Ben should certainly be able to give Davis a few more minutes off this season (not that Matt appeared to need it last year) while he learns the AUS game.

Welcome to the Tommies, Ben, and Good Luck!

STU hockey school still has a few openings

The St. Thomas Pre-Season Hockey School runs from Aug. 25-29 at the LBR. There is still room for goalies in novice and skaters in peewee and bantam. Visit STU Athletics for registration information or contact Mike Eagles at 460-0378 or meagles@stu.ca

Meet the new Tommies - Jason Rinzler

From the Tommies' official website:

Jason is a skilled forward from Moncton that played in the MJAHL for the Moncton Beavers and the Weeks Crushers. In eleven play-off games this spring, Jason had ten goals. He led his team to the Royal Bank Cup by virtue of their win at the Fred Page Cup. The Tommies are hoping Jason can follow the same footprints as Justin Bowers.

Photo Credit: www.mjahl.com
Jason is a 6'0, 190 lb centre hailing from Moncton. Jason is a proven scorer, with 103 points in 81 games over the last two seasons in the MJAHL. Jason has shown he can raise his game at playoff time as well, scoring 31 points in 22 playoff games, plus another 11 points in 5 games as he helped lead the Weeks Crushers to the Fred Page Cup last season.
Tommies fans have reason to be excited about this recruit, as he should do a good job of filling the void left by Justin Bowers' defection to the ECHL.

The one and only YouTube clip of Jason... watch the big shot coming over the blue line, scoring a big goal for the Beavers:

Bourbeau is a Jackalope

He was surely called worse by opposing players and fans alike during his AUS career. But actually, "Bourbs" has signed on with the Central Hockey League's Odessa (TX) Jackalopes. From the Bonnyville Nouvelle, via the Grand Prairie Storm website:

Another major highlight Bourbeau touched on was having the opportunity to play under the leadership of head coach Mike Eagles, a former NHL forward with nearly 200 points in 16 seasons. Bourbeau said that Eagles, who has been at STU for six years, was exceptional at teaching.

"He said I played similar to how he played in the NHL," said Bourbeau. "He was a very aggressive-working guy and was able to relate to me, and he helped me with a lot of my wall play work by getting pucks away from our goal, and being the first man in. He gave me a lot of little tips that I'll never forget."
With the dedication, leadership and work ethic shown on the ice, Bourbeau became the recipient of the Tommy Hughes Award, an award presented by the Friends of STU alumni group. Taken by surprise during the awards banquet, Jean admitted being recognized with this award was a great honour.

Best of luck in your future career, Jean.

Meet the new Tommies - Brad Gallant

The Tommies have announced the addition of winger Bradley Gallant to next year's squad:

Brad, a winger, is a tough competitor who has played the last three seasons in the QMJHL. This past season with the PEI Rocket. He scored eleven goals in 06-07 and 07-08. Despite being in a checker's role Brad has proved he has the ability to finish and the Tommies are looking forward to his continued development.

Brad is a 6'0, 200 lb. winger from Summerside, PEI and started his career off at home in the MJAHL, scoring 9 goals in 50 games for the Summerside Western Capitals. Brad then moved up to the 'Q' spending two seasons with Cape Breton, then back home to the Island for his overage year with the PEI Rocket. Brad gained a reputation as one of the league's tougher customers, amassing 429 penalty minutes in 3 seasons, but also showed a bit of a scoring touch, with 11 goals in each of his last 2 QMJHL campaigns. Interesting Fact: Brad attended training camp with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch last season and saw some preseason action against the Rochester Americans including, of course, a fight. Brad was the teammate of the Tommies' Devan Praught with Summerside in the MJAHL in 2004 -2005.

A clip of Brad in "action" against Charles Bergeron (now of the Aigles Bleu).



Welcome to the Tommies, Brad, and Good Luck!