Some people would say this season for the Men's Hockey Tommies was a
write off because they are looking at the wins and loss column, but from this
fan's perspective I disagree. Yes the team only had three wins on the year but
they were three of the most exciting wins in hockey. We got to see a beat down
of UdeM on the road, in a building that is always hard for road teams to get a
"W" in, we got to see a shootout win over the St. Francis Xavier
X-Men (Also one of the best Christmas presents ever for Tommies fans, it was
right before the holiday break) and a win over the Dalhousie Tigers in a close
game right after the holiday break which gave the guys a two game winning
streak at home.
The guys had their struggles through the season don't get me wrong, losing
long-time Tommie, Mike Reich was certainly a loss to the team. Anytime an
experienced veteran and leader in the dressing room leaves it can certainly
leave a void in the team atmosphere. Mike left the program though to persue his
career in the business world though and no-one can fault him for that, Mike
realized the opportunity and how it was going to work out for him long-term,
also that he was getting a chance to go back to his home province of
Saskatchewan. After getting in contact with Mike he said that things are going
great, his new job is awesome and that he is part of another great team, he is
learning his new role and that things are falling into place now. He is still
strapping on the skates and is currently playing for two different Senior teams,
one to qualify for the Allan Cup and another regular league team. Mike has been
spending the little bit of free time he has from work and hockey to look for a
new home.
Along with Reich moving on, Coach Troy Ryan did have to make a few
roster moves to keep the team environment in the dressing room. The Tommies
released forward Alex Leduc and goaltender Justin Collier, two good hockey
players that were not buying into the Tommies program of hard work and team
work. With the release of Collier, Coach Ryan picked up Fredericton native
Tyler Piercy, who did see some playing time throughout the second half of the
season. After the release of Leduc, the Tommies chose not to persue any other
players for the '12-'13 season and put all of their attention into recruiting
players for the '13-'14 season.
The Rookies, Tommies fans were treated to an awesome class of Freshmen
talent this season, starting with goaltender Jonathan Groenheyde who stood on
his head from the beginning of the season till the last minute of the last game
and was chosen as the AUS All-Rookie Goaltender. Groenheyde was ninth in the
CIS for Minutes Played and third in Saves, these are impressive stats all
things considered. Colin Martin from the London Knights started the season with
the guys but suffered an upper body injury at the beginning of the second half
and was not able to return for the remainder of the season, this was a big loss
to the team as the forward had really turned it on at the end of the first
half. Jordan Thomas the defenseman, who came to STU from the Metro Marauders of
the Martime Hockey League. Jordan was a welcome addition to the blue-line this
year, and led the teams +/- for the amount of games he played. Matthew Hobbs
arrived to the Tommies from the QMJHL this past fall and has proven himself to
be a very disciplined blue-liner, collecting only eight penalty minutes on the
season and Nick Brown also a rookie D-man from Fredericton came to the Tommies
from the MHL Dieppe Commandos, Nick played 25 straight games and registered his
first AUS point in the last game of the regular season against UPEI. Marc-Andre
Levesque was a nice addition to the team this year, playing all 28 games during
the season, Levesque picked up 6 points during the season, one goal and five assists
for the rookie.
The Sophmores, John MacDonald, this guy has shins of steel! MacDonald
blocked shots all season long and showed absolutely no fear when it came to
standing in front of some of the hardest shots in the AUS, he hobbled to the bench
a few times but always came back for his next shift. Robert Zandbeek was
another forward that showed no fear to stand in front shots. Stephen Sanza, who
lead the team in points this season with 19, played hard in all 28 games this
season. In the last home game of the season against UdeM he came back to the
bench between shifts soaking his hand in a bucket of ice water to stay in the
game. Jonathan Bonneau, who also played in all 28 games finished the season
with 14 points and third in this column for the Tommies, the fast moving
forward and breakout specialist had great moves against opposing teams. If it
were my choice to hand out the “Most Sportsmanlike” award to me, it would have
been given to Tommies Sophmore Captain Felix Poulin, the captain started every
game by going out of his way to shake the hands of each of the Referees and
Linesmen, the offensive minded defenseman, lead the blue-liners in scoring and
only collected 20 minutes in penalties. Sebastien Bernier, collected 5 points
on the season with two goals and three assists, the “Stay at Home” defenseman
played all 28 games for the Tommies.
The Juniors, Christian Morin spent most of the second half of the season
injured with an upper body injury, was certainly a loss of experience on the
blue line this season. Yuri Cheremetiev stepped it up and played out of
position most of the season on defense, he did a great job on the blue line and
was quick to get back on the play and had one of the most exciting goals this
hockey fan has ever watched in his shoot out goal against the St. FX X-Men
before the holiday break with a back-handed toe drag to beat X-Men goaltender
Joey Perricone. Randy Cameron was set to have a great season unfortunately was
injured early in the season and this kept him out for most of the campaign, it
will be great to have him back in the line-up next year at 100%. Kyell Henegan
scored his first goal of his CIS career this year against the X-Men in their
December 1st home win, the big forward had some big hits this season and also
had his career high in points.
The Seniors, In a comment from team captain Felix-Antoine Poulin, he
praised dressing room leaders Chris Morehouse and Alex Labonte for leading the
younger players through the rough patch and being supportive to the cause. It's
sad to see these veterans leave the Tommies this year as they are both gritty
forwards who haven't been afraid to dig in the corners and get rough if need
be. Still one of the most impressive instances I have seen in a long time was
the Mark Jeffrey Memorial game at the AUC when Morehouse and Matt Fillier got
into a bit of a tussle and Fillier dropped the gloves and had four punches on
Morehouse, Morehouse knew the importance of not dropping the gloves and taking
the suspension when the bench was at its shortest of the season. Morehouse
stuck it out and played the bigger man and put the "T" in team and
Tommies. Alex Labonte came out flying in his last regular season game at
home, scoring two goals in his last home game as a Tommie.
In a great touch by head coach Troy Ryan, Matt Eagles dressed for the
last game of the regular season, he came out and warmed up with the team, and
accepted his Lou Chabot award from his father and Athletic Director Mike
Eagles, when he was returning to the bench to watch the game Coach Ryan told
him to turn around and take the opening face-off, Eagles won the face-off quite
handsomely at that getting it back to the blue line, allowing him to skate back
to the bench and leave the game on his own terms.
So begins the long off-season and more rebuilding and recruiting of our
Tommies. Stay tuned for info as it comes in we will do our best to keep you in
the loop. Can't wait to see everyone at the Grant/Harvey Centre in October for
the beginning of the regular season.
Murph
