From Falcons to Golden Hawks
Brenden Anderson and Tyler Hunt’s faith in the St. Catharines Falcons has paid off.
Falcons general manager/coach Tyler Bielby acquired the veteran forwards at the trade deadline with the promise of using them in key roles in order to maximize their exposure to scouts and schools.
Anderson and Hunt immediately became two of the top offensive weapons for the Falcons with the increased ice time and recently both committed to play next season with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.
Bielby is thrilled to see the players graduate to the next level.
“Anytime we can make a difference in their long-term future I think it’s just as big as any win,” he said. “We are a development league and our goal, of course, is to win hockey games but just as importantly providing an atmosphere where these kids can get better and have something to look forward to excel later in life.
“For these two, it’s the next step in their journey.”
Anderson had Ontario Hockey League experience with the Hamilton Bulldogs and Sarnia Sting before coming to the Falcons where he has 18 goals and 37 points in 31 games.
“I was given the opportunity to come here and have good people around me and it helped me a lot,” Anderson said. “That was one of the biggest fears coming into the season, not knowing where I was going to play hockey next season, or even playing at all. It means a lot for me and my family.
“I just think coming down to a good organization here and being able to get a chance to play and be the player I am really helped me to be able to move on this year.”
Bielby has no doubt Anderson, who has yet to declare a major, will excel at the university level.
“He’s larger than life, so for him it’s about being consistent and getting stuck in (the play) because his reach allows him to do so many things the average player isn’t able to do,” Bielby said. “He wanted to play OUA, that was his goal, and being able to get here and get an opportunity in some important minutes and an important role allowed him to showcase himself whereas maybe when he was playing in the OHL he was playing more of a role and wasn’t given the opportunity offensively as much.”
Hunt, a 20-year-old Oakville native, has been a dynamic presence with 21 goals and 38 points in 23 games after starting the season in the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
“I’m so excited,” said Hunt, who is going to study communications and health studies. “It’s been something I’ve been wanting to do for a while so to see it come into play is huge.”
Hunt appreciates the opportunity Bielby has afforded him.
“Before the deadline talking to them, I put my trust in them. This is where I wanted to come to get better and get the chance to move on and that’s exactly what’s happened. Putting my faith in these guys really worked out.”
Bielby appreciated Hunt’s desire to continue to play.
“Right from the beginning when we talked to him he didn’t want to come here and this be it for him,” he said. “He heard the organization can move guys along to the OUA because we have in the past and he put his trust in us. Through a lot of communication and him doing his part— at the end of the day he puts the skates on — he shoots the puck like a pro and that’s allowed him to get up on the scoreboard and get 20 goals for the first time in his career.”
The Falcons sit in second place with a 29-10-1-1 mark, two points in arrears of the Caledonia Corvairs for first place. The Corvairs own two games in hand.
St. Catharines is home to the Port Colborne Sailors Friday and in Port Saturday and Bielby expects injured defencemen Mitch Dmytrow and Trent Vaillancourt to return to the lineup after lengthy absences.
“We have nine games remaining in the regular season to get them rolling, and knock on wood, we’re as healthy as we’ve been all year,” Bielby said. “We get to use our full roster on any given night and that’s exciting because we haven’t seen that in months.”
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