Lady Tommies add to depth with latest recruit

The Tommie have added Cow Bay, Nova Scotia native Carly Critch to the 2011-12 roster.  Carly played in the Metro High School Girls Hockey League (Halifax area) last season and led her team in points as a defenseman.  Since her arrival at St. Thomas, Coach Murphy has switched her to a forward, where she played last night in STU's 2 - 0 victory over UPEI.

Carly has good acceleration on the ice and will certainly add to the Tommies depth this season.

Carly's (limited) profile from the MHSGHL

Former accolades for Carly

Tommies add trio of players. Zandbeek, MacDonald, and Collier

STU makes the addition of three MHL veterans to round out their line-up for the 2011-12 season. DG: New era for Tommies dawns Wednesday. A big question mark all summer was who was going to replace Ben MacFarlane and get the back-up goaltending position behind Charles Lavigne? Consider it answered.

Courtesy MHL

Justin Collier, most recently of the Pictou County Weeks Crushers, will be a solid reinforcement to the goaltending tandem. In 40 regular season games last season, Justin posted an impressive 2.61 GAA, a .919 save percentage, and 21 wins for the Crushers. This was no fluke as his save percentage has been over .915 for the past three seasons.

Justin's MHL profile

Yarmouth County Vanguard - Article

Courtesy MHL

Robert Zandbeek comes to STU after being the Captain of the MHL's Woodstock Slammers last season. He also has 3 years experience in the always tough AJHL. A native of St. Albert, Alberta, Rob had a break-out season last year scoring career highs of 20 goals and 38 assists for 58 points for the Slammers. Rob is known for giving it "his all" every shift and being a good character guy.

Rob's Slammers profile

Courtesy MHL

Last but not least, John MacDonald former Captain of the Metro Marauders will wear the Tommies green and gold this season. John is well known to Coach Ryan, as he has played for him the past 2 seasons in Nova Scotia. Not a big point producer, John is willing to do what it takes to get wins. If the coach thinks enough of this kid to bring him on board, he may just surprise a few people.

John's MHL profile

Tommies head up north to Alaska for latest recruit

Courtesy Alaska All-stars

The STU Lady Tommies have added another forward to the ranks for the upcoming 2011-12 season. Brianne Bohn of Wasilla, Alaska has come east to patrol the left wing for St. Thomas. Bohn definitely has some skills and will give the Tommies depth in the foward ranks, something they have been without for the past several years.

Coach Murphy had this to say about our new Green and Gold prospect, "She (Bohn) has a great set of wheels and is very dogged and determined on the puck. She will provide excellent depth at forward and will look to help the team on the scoreboard. We are very pleased to have her attending St Thomas."

Good luck Brianne and WELCOME!

Brianne's AAA profile

STU Athletics' Article

QMJHL veteran Jonathan Bonneau added to Tommies roster

Courtesy QMJHL

The Tommies have added another CHL veteran player to the line-up for 2011-12.  Jonathan Bonneau, who  most recently played for the Chicoutimi Saqueneens, will add some spark on left wing this year for STU.

Bonneau was drafted 4th overall in the 2007 QMJHL entry draft by the Victoriaville Tigres, where he played for 2.5 seasons before being traded to PEI.  In his overage year he was traded 2 times, first from PEI to Rouyn-Noranda, then to Chicoutimi.  His point production improved every year in junior hockey with totals of 24, 31, 37, and 42 points respectively in his four year junior stint.

Lady Tommies add two more players. Exhibition schedule unveiled.

Coach Peter Murphy has added two more pieces to the 2011-12 St. Thomas Tommies women's hockey team.

Manny Hebel - Courtesy WWHL

Manuela (Manny) Hebel will be attending St. Thomas this fall after playing in the Western Women's Hockey League last year for the Edmonton Chimos. She is originally from Mannheim, Germany and wanted to improve her hockey skills in Canada. Manny is a speedy forward who will bring a little extra jump to the offensive attack. WWHL Link

STU adds OHL D-man Chris Van Laren

Courtesy Guelph Mercury

Troy Ryan knew he would have to upgrade his St. Thomas defense this year and he is off to a good start adding Chris Van Laren most recently of the OHL Guelph Storm. With the graduation of Keith Wynn, David Crossman, Scott Judson and Erick Tremblay you can expect that this will not be the last d-man added this year.

Van Laren "has got a bit of an edge to him," Ryan told the Daily Gleaner, "He has the abilities to play against top players, very difficult to play against." This is good news for the Tommies moving forward especially as this is the first two OHL recruits (see Sanza post below) to STU in 4 years.

Guelphstorm.com - "Trade a surprise but solid play is not"
thespec.com - "Trade deadline deal key to Guelph Storm revival"
The Daily Gleaner - "Tommies bring in two OHL recruits"

Tommies add Knights captain Stephen Sanza

Courtesy London Knights

Troy Ryan has landed his first recruit and it looks like a dandy.  STU has added London Knights' captain and right winger Stephen Sanza to the fold for 2011-2012.  This is the fourth player added to the Tommies roster for next season.  Sebastien Bernier, Chris Morehouse, and Felix-Antoine Poulin were announced before Ryan was hired as coach.

Sanza was named captain of the Knights late in the 2010-11 OHL season after Michael D'Orazio - then captain for London - was traded to Mississauga.  Coach Dale Hunter commented "Stevie’s definitely our leader. He’s good with the young kids and he’ll do a good job wearing the ‘C’ for us.  He blocks shots, he penalty kills. He’s got 24 goals and plays against the other team’s best line. He does all the things a leader does.” Hunter had given Sanza one the team's assistant jobs at the start of the season. 

With 44 points this past year in the OHL, Sanza has shown improvement every time he takes a jump to a higher level.    Look for him to be a major contributor to Tommies success in the near future.


*NEW* Shannon Wise Interview with Stephen Sanza CJBK London.

Daily Gleaner - "Tommies bring in two OHL recruits"
London Free Press - "'C' gives Sanza license to talk even more"

London Knights - "Knights name Sanza team captain"

London Free Press - "Joining Knight's Sanza's dream"

Lady Tommies add another forward

Danielle Miller -Submitted photo

The St. Thomas Tommies are pleased to announce the addition of another recruit for the 2011-2012 season.  Danielle Miller of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan will be wearing the green and gold this fall for STU.

Danielle (Dani) is a 5' 10" forward who played Midget AAA hockey this past year for the Prince Albert A&W Bears of the SFMAAAHL and was second on her team in scoring with 30 points (15g, 15a) in 28 games.  This was her first season in Midget Triple A and led the league in rookie scoring.

Prior to moving to Prince Albert she played Midget AA hockey for 2 years in the Saskatoon Comets league.  Dani is a gifted athlete and has also excelled in soccer, as well as in the classroom where she has been an honours student.

Coach Murphy is excited to have Danielle coming to St. Thomas and have the opportunity to watch her take hockey and academics to the next level.  Welcome Dani!

Dani's SFMAAAHL profile

A few minutes of youtube video featuring Dani.

Tommies bolster defense with local recruit

Jenna Scott

The STU Lady Tommies have added another piece to their 2011-12 defence with new recruit Jenna Scott of Hanwell, NB.  The 5'6 defender participated at the 2011 Canada Winter Games for Team New Brunswick, collecting 5 assists in 6 games.  Scott was a member of the Fredericton Midget Tommies in 2010-11, picking up 5 assists in 16 games.

Scott and fellow new recruit Caley Steinert will be expected to fill the void left by graduates Jessica Holt and Lucrece Nussbaum.

Welcome Jenna!


STU Release
Hockey Canada Profile
2011 Canada Winter Games Profile

Tommies add forward Erin MacIsaac

Erin MacIsaac

The St. Thomas Tommies have added skilled forward Erin MacIsaac to the line-up for 2011-12.  MacIsaac comes to STU via Dartmouth, NS where she played in the Metro High School League registering 25 goals and 13 assists in 21 games this past season, a league high.  She also played Midget AAA for the ProCresting Penguins scoring 12 goals and 9 assists in 22 games and adding 1 goal and 5 assists in 8 play-off games, helping her team to a silver medal.

Erin was also chosen to play for Nova Scotia at the 2011 Canada Games -which she considered to be an unbelievable experience - and garnered 1 goal and 2 assists.

She is no slouch in the classroom either and Coach Murphy is happy to be landing another top student athlete for the Lady Tommies.  She intends on getting her BA while at STU and currently has an undeclared major.   Welcome Erin!!

STU Press Release

Tommies add high scoring defenceman Felix-Antoine Poulin

Courtesy Spruce Grove Saints

The St. Thomas Tommies back end is starting to take shape for the 2010-11 season as Felix-Antoine Poulin has announced his intentions of playing at STU this fall.  This past year Poulin led the entire Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) in points with 61 and was nominated for the leagues top defenceman award.

Prior to moving out west the swift skating D-man played junior hockey in the QJAAAHL and was that leagues top defenceman and leading point getter from the back end in 2009-10.  At 6'2" and 200 pounds Poulin should be a big help for STU's rebuilding blue line.

Felix-Antoine Poulin Eliteprospects

Tommies add D-man for 2012

Sebastien Bernier - Courtesy QMJHL

The Tommies have added smooth skating defenceman Sebastien Bernier to the line-up for next year but they will have to wait until after Christmas before he can play.

Originally from Lac Saint-Charles, QC this well travelled D-man last played for 3L du Riviere-du-Loup of the LNAH until December of 2010.  This Quebec league has many former Q players and even some former NHLers.  Previous to this, Bernier played for the Castors d'Avignon of the French Division 1 League and the Matane Castors of the LHSEQ.

In the junior ranks Sebastien played for 7 teams in his 4 year QMJHL career.  His best year being his overage one where he totaled 52 points between Gatineau and Rimouski in 2007-08.

Bernier has been redshirting with the Tommies since joining the team in January.  Welcome aboard Sebastien and we look forward to seeing you play in January.

New recruit bolsters Tommies' defense

Caley Steinert

The Lady Tommies have added a top notch recruit in  Emerson, Manitoba native Caley Steinert.  Coach Peter Murphy described her as follows "She is a smart, puck moving defender who can play in all situations. Her 5’6” height and great vision of the ice allows her to make the right play at the right time. We are very excited to have Caley join the Tommie family.” 


She has spent the last three season's with the Pembina Valley Female Hawks of the Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League, which included being league champions all three years.  She has been the assistant captain for the past two seasons with the Hawks and has chipped in offensively with 23 goals and 38 assists in that time.  She was also a member of the 2010 gold medal hockey team at the Manitoba Winter Games. 


She intends on getting her Education degree at STU.  Good luck Caley and welcome aboard.  STU Press Release

Former Huskie now a Tommie

Chris Morehouse - Courtesy Richard Lafortune

Former Moncton Wildcat captain and Saint Mary's Huskies agitator will be playing for the Green and Gold this fall.  Chris Morehouse committed to the Tommies late in 2010 after playing a year and a half  of pro hockey.

Morehouse brings with him that "super pest" reputation of being great to play with and hated to play against.  Never a big point producer, Chris adds that spark when you need a boost or scores the  opportunistic goal when you least expect it.

It would be easy to label Chris a real "Jekyll and Hyde" as he is noted to be one way on the ice and another off it.  In 2008, while serving as Captain of the Moncton Wildcats,  Morehouse was the QMJHL and Canadian Hockey Leagues Humanitarian of the Year.

Chris' last pro game was on November 17, 2010 with the Tulsa Oilers of the CHL, therefore he will not be eligible to suit up with the Tommies until Saturday November 18, 2011.  Welcome Chris.

Tommies add western grit to line-up for 2011-12

Cassidy McTaggart

The Lady Tommies have added some much needed size to the roster for next year in the form of 6 foot Calgary native Cassidy McTaggart.

Cassidy comes to STU after spending the past three seasons with the Calgary Midget AAA Bruins of the AMMFHL scoring 18 points this season.  The Tommies can expect a strong leader as well as she was the team captain in her final year with the Bruins.

In addition to playing for the Bruins, Cassidy has played in the Alberta Cup and in the Alberta Winter Games.  She intends on taking psychology and sociology at St. Thomas.


Welcome Cassidy.