Cole Tymkin has gone pro after four seasons with the Brock Badgers men’s hockey team.
The Fort Frances, Ontario, native signed his first professional contract on Feb. 20 with the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Tymkin is coming off a decent season for Brock where he recorded double-digit points for the third consecutive year, coming from three goals and seven assists in 27 games.
His best season came in 2023-24, where he notched 19 points (six goals and 13 assists) in 26 games which included a valiant effort in Brock’s run to the U Sports National Championships.
The Sport Management major scored a pair of goals in the Badgers’ win against the Windsor Lancers in game one of the quarterfinal best-of-three series before adding his third of the playoffs to open the scoring in game two where Brock was victorious by one goal. He then extended his playoff point streak to three when he tallied an assist on the game-winning goal in the Badgers’ 3-1 triumph over the TMU Bold in game one of their semi-final matchup.
Over the course of his four years in the Badgers’ program, Tymkin registered 50 points (17 goals and 33 assists) in 85 games to average 0.59 points per game. He also brought a physical style of play to Brock where he received 111 penalty minutes, which is something he’s already shown in his early tenure in Wheeling.
In 13 games with the Nailers at the time of writing, Tymkin has been assessed 44 penalty minutes to go along with two goals and an assist.
His most impactful game in Wheeling was on March 8, when he recorded his first “Gordie Howe hat trick,” which pays homage to Howe’s tenacious playing style when a player records a goal, an assist and a fighting major in the same game.
It was the Nailers’ first “Gordie Howe hat trick” of the season and Tymkin’s first fight since his days in the OHL with the London Knights where his career took off.
After being drafted by the Knights in the fifth round (91st overall) of the 2015 OHL Draft, Tymkin went on to play 199 games in London where he tallied 93 points (38 goals and 55 assists) as well as 337 penalty minutes.
Tymkin’s best season in junior came in the 2018-19 season when he was one of the assistant captains of the team. The six-foot-one forward notched 22 goals and 25 assists in 63 games to lead the Knights to the top spot in the OHL’s Western Conference standings.
He now joins an exclusive list of Connor Ungar (Bakersfield Condors), Tyler Burnie (Rapid City Rush) and Zack Taylor (HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas – Slovakia) to graduate from the Brock hockey program to the professional ranks within the last two seasons.
For more information on Cole Tymkin, visit gobadgers.ca.