Badgers ready to tame Lions
The Brock Badgers host the York Lions Wednesday in Game 1 of their-best-of-three OUA playoff series. Photos courtesy Brock University.
It has been a record-setting season for the Brock Badgers men’s hockey team.
The Badgers not only set the 2019 Ontario University Athletics and school standard for goals against with a paltry 62, but they also won a team-best 19 games.
“It was the most wins in our history,” Brock coach Marty Williamson said. “I was shocked. I didn’t know, but the players knew.
“That’s a pretty cool thing.”
Williamson admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect this season following a massive turnover of the roster.
“I’m extremely pleased,” said Williamson, who is in his second season at the helm with Brock. “We brought in a lot of new guys, 15 new players, and really thought we would scuffle and then get hot near the end something like we did last year.
“To have such a good season and for these guys to buy in so quickly and to gel, we’re pretty proud of the group.”
Williamson is particularly pleased with his team’s commitment to defence led by netminder Logan Thompson (2.22 goal-against-average, .932 save percentage).
“We’re a little bit quicker than we were last year and the backbone of good goaltending is still there. We set a record for Brock for the least goals against. For me, it’s the team buying into the hard work of defence,” he said. “Sixty-two goals against, that’s a phenomenal number. We were the best in the league and that’s something to be proud of. You don’t fluke into that.”
All that good defensive work did not come at the expense of offence — Brock was second in the league in goals scored.
“When we’re on offence, I want us to be as creative as we can be,” Williamson added. “I want defencemen joining the rush, but I won’t sacrifice any of that when the puck turns over. You must do the work and we have a group of guys who are doing that.”
Williamson is thrilled to be able to put two good seasons back to back.
“We talked about continuing what we did last year and we want to put Brock on the map as a hockey destination for players who are done with junior hockey,” he said. “They can come to Brock and get good hockey and a good education so it was important to continue this.
“We got players who were excited to come to us. It wasn’t by default. We got players who wanted to be here and that’s exciting. I’m getting phone calls from guys who are finishing in the OHL and are interesting in Brock. That’s a lot nicer than having to go out and pound the pavement when they are coming to you.”
The Badgers host the York Lions in Game 1 of a best-of-three playoff series on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. at the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex. The series shifts to York on Friday. If necessary, the Badgers host Game 3 Sunday.
“You need six wins to guarantee yourself to go to nationals. Then you can talk about another win to get the Queen’s Cup and then three more wins at nationals,” Williamson said, when asked about the team’s goals for the post-season. “If you win three two-of-three series, then you are into that game where both teams are going.
“We need to play six of our best games and we have a chance.”
The nationals are being held at the University of Lethbridge this season where former Brock coach Murray Nystrom is in his first season behind the bench.
The Badgers were led in scoring this season by Thunder Bay’s Ryan Burton (9-10-19) while British Columbia native Ayden MacDonald (6-13-19) was close behind. Ex-Ottawa 67 and Saginaw Spirt Connor Brown (6-19-15), Skylar Pacheco (5-10-15) and former Edmonton Oil King Adam Berg (9-6-15) rounded out the top five. Welland’s Connor Walters (1-13-14) had a strong rookie season on the backend while former Niagara Falls Canuck Frank Pucci had six goals and 13 points in 16 games. Jared Marino of Niagara Falls collected five goals and 13 points in 28 games.
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