Grant-Harvey Centre update, CBC interview

Below is a CBC interview between Terry Seguin, host of Information Morning and Wayne Tallon, Director of Community Services for the City of Fredericton concerning the Grant*Harvey Centre, Scotiabank Park South, and some key dates involved for the complex.  It may take a few moments to load the interview so please be patient.  It's worth the wait if you are interested.

A few highlights from the interview.

- Grand opening and ribbon cutting on September 29th.
- An open house, tours and family skates will be made available the week of September 24th.
- The first ice will be put in the second week of August and will be tested before the opening.

http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningfredericton/2012/07/09/grant-harvey-update/

Former PEI Rocket defenseman Matthew Hobbs commits to STU

Matt Hobbs
Courtesy QMJHL

Matthew Hobbs, a three year veteran of the QMJHL, has agreed to play for the Tommies this coming fall.  Hobbs most recently played for the Victoriaville Tigres after a 2 1/2 year stint with the PEI Rocket where he was an assistant captain for 2 seasons and was made team captain this past season.

A native of Shawville, Quebec, Hobbs is an excellent leader and a real work horse on defense.  He possesses a big shot from the point and has been leaned on in all situations for his previous teams.  From a November, 2011 QMJHL article by Marcel Vander Weir "Hobbs doing it all for the Rocket" we can get a pretty good picture of the type of player Matt is;

The 5-foot-11, 204-pound Hobbs gets tapped on the shoulder for powerplays, penalty kills, and will double-shift if a game is close. 

That shows the value and stability a defenceman like Hobbs brings to an organization, said assistant coach Corrado Micalef.

“He’s the guy that we use against the best lines on the other team,” said Micalef. “Some nights he logs really a lot of minutes. If he can breathe, often we say, you OK? And he gets back out there. He plays a lot of hockey for us and really carries the bulk of the load on the back end.”

With the commitment of Matt, the Tommies have added three defensemen this season including Marc-Andre Levesque and Jordan Thomas.  St. Thomas lost Andrew Andricopoulos, Brian Main, and Erick Tremblay to graduation and only recently found out that Chris Van Laren will not be returning to STU, electing to stay in his hometown of Kingston, Ontario to attend university there.

Welcome to the St. Thomas family Matt.

Tommies add WHL goalie Jon Groenheyde

Jon Groenheyde- Courtesy WHL

The St. Thomas Tommies have filled a big hole in net with an equally big goalie.  Jon Groenheyde of White Rock, British Columbia has committed to STU for the coming season after playing the past four seasons in the WHL for Kamloops, Edmonton, and Swift Current.  The 6'3" goaltender saved his best for last in junior hockey playing sixty-three games this past season for the Broncos registering a 3.46 GAA and .900 save percentage.  He was named the Canadian Hockey League's Goaltender of the Week for the week ending March 4th, 2012.

After his overage season was completed, Jon signed on with the Central Hockey League's Allen Americans.  He went 1-1 with a 1.52 GAA and .941 save percentage in his pro debut.

Coach Troy Ryan had some big skates to fill with the graduation of starting goaltender Charles Lavigne and this is a huge commitment to secure.  Groenheyde should be able to step right in and take over as starting goalie for the Tommies.

Shawn Mullin, the play by play broadcaster for the Swift Current Broncos, wrote this about Jon in the last week of the WHL regular season.

"Groenheyde is a fierce competitor who won’t let guys take advantage of him in his “kitchen.” He battles every game and has been vital for the Broncos on and off the ice. He is also a very athletic netminder who has made some of the most spectacular saves I’ve seen all season. It’s too bad we don’t have better cameras at the Credit Union iPlex yet as otherwise he would have been all over the plays of the week lately."

Groenheyde Retrospective Interview

Radio Interview between Shawn Mullin & Jon Groenheyde

Welcome to the Tommies Jon!

Smith joins men's coaching staff

Tommies Men's head coach Troy Ryan has named former Fredericton High School Black Kats head coach Tim Smith as his new assistant coach, replacing the departed Eric Bissonnette.  Smith saw plenty of success at the high school level, leading his team to the past four NBIAA provincial championship titles.

From HockeyScene.com:

"Troy and I talked a bit about moving up", Smith said. "It is a great opportunity, another step in my development as a coach. It is going to be great working with Troy. He's got a great resume. I expect to learn a lot."

Ryan said that he and Tim had built a good relationship over the past year.

"I am confident that he is a great addition to our program moving forward."

Blackmore wins Rivalus Scholarship

Raise you stick Kayla, another goal conquered.
Photo Courtesy Dylan Buell

Hard work and determination have paid off for Kayla Blackmore. After applying for the Rivalus Student Athlete Scholarship a few months ago and pulling everything together to gain support, she found out this week that she had earned the lucrative award. Bill Hunt of the Fredericton Daily Gleaner caught up with Blackmore recently and reported the following.

It's not as if Kayla Blackmore won the lottery - she earned the big prize after all - but the 21-year-old St. Thomas University women's hockey star won the Rivalus Student-Athlete scholarship. One male and one female from Canadian Interuniversity Sport and one male and one female from NCAA schools were chosen.

Blackmore's credentials were impeccable: she was the team captain and leading scorer with the Tommies women's team this past season, a four-time academic all-Canadian, and the winner of the Student-Athlete Community Service Award in Atlantic University Sport.

Her Facebook page drew 726 'likes.' Nevertheless, 'it was kind of unexpected,' said the 21-year-old Fredericton native. 'I had kind of put in the back of my mind that I wasn't going to win it.' It's a $5,000 scholarship and $5,000 in product from the sport supplement company. She got a call from the company's Halifax-based marketing representative, Mike Barbour, Monday night.

'He told me that my application was everything they were looking for,' she said. 'I was speechless.' STU athletic director Mike Eagles, for one, is not surprised.

'I coached Kayla in atom competitive hockey,' he said. 'I know what a hard worker she is. I've known her since she was 10 years old. I have nothing but respect and admiration for her as a person and an athlete. It's a big surprise, but it's not surprising to me. She's a hard worker, she's a wonderful ambassador for the game, for the school and for her program. I'm thrilled for her.'

Congratulations to Kayla and job very well done for earning this prize. We are very proud of you and feel very lucky to have such a great young lady representing our school.

Former London Knight Colin Martin commits to Tommies

Courtesy the London Knights

The St. Thomas Tommies have added their first forward recruit for the coming 2012-13 season.  Colin Martin of the OHL Champion London Knights has confirmed via Twitter that he is the newest Tommie. Martin tweeted "Proud to officially be a part of the St. Thomas University #Freddy #Tommies".

The 6'1" Martin, a London, Ontario native, has played parts of five seasons in the OHL including four with his hometown Knights. His best offensive season was last year when he recorded 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points. Current Tommie Steve Sanza, a former Captain for London, was also on that team. This season Martin was asked to play defense, take a leadership role with the Knights and help develop a young, skillful team.

Neate Sager of Yahoo Canada Sports and former CIS Blog manager, wrote a great article on Martin during the Memorial Cup. You can read it HERE.

The 6-foot-2, 196-pounder grew up as a power winger, the kind who usually wore the captain's C and led his club in points and penalty minutes. The Knights were deep this year so he moved back to defence as an overage. Whatever it takes to stay, eh?

"I grew up watching this team, it was my dream to win a championship with this team," Martin says. "I stuck with them right to the end."

Welcome to St. Thomas Colin.