Brock Badgers men’s hockey team welcoming the Ohio Bobcats for two exhibition games this weekend.
The Brock Badgers men’s hockey team will start their 2023-24 season with a pair of exhibition games against the Ohio University Bobcats at Canada Games Park on Friday, Sept. 15th at 6 p.m and Saturday, Sept. 16th at 12 p.m. The matchup will surely be a test for the Badgers as they are preparing for the start of the OUA regular season on Oct. 6th.
Ohio University competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s (ACHA) Division I, which is the highest level within the ACHA.
The Bobcats finished the previous regular season in 5th place in the ACHA Division I standings with 56 points after winning 28 of their 35 games.
A big reason for their success is due to their now-sophomore Luc Reeve’s 75 points (34 goals, 41 assists) in only 33 games last season, which ranked second-most in the league.
Defenceman Sam Turner will also pose a problem for the Badgers given his playmaking abilities from the point, registering 57 assists in 68 games over two seasons to go along with 19 goals.
Reeve, Turner and the Bobcats are a perfect early season challenge for the Badgers, who are hoping to rebound from their tough quarterfinal series loss last season to the Windsor Lancers.
Brock ended the 2022-23 campaign winning 19 of 32 games, accounting for a .594 winning percentage.
Jacob Roach leads the way for the Badgers, having recorded 22 assists and 32 points in 26 games a season ago, which ranked second in the OUA in both statistics. The former Guelph Storm forward was named an OUA first-team all-star, OUA West MVP and U Sports second-team all-Canadian for his performance. Head coach TJ Manastersky will look for the Brooklin-native to repeat and surpass his stellar 2022-23 season if the Badgers hope to compete for the Queen’s Cup.
In chasing the Queen’s Cup, Manastersky will be using the matchup against the Bobcats as an early season evaluation of players that could fill the void left by Adam Berg, who signed a contract with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) in March.
Berg led the Badgers in goals scored a season ago with 15 of the team’s 100 goals, leaving a hole at the top of the lineup.
Among the potential options to replace Berg are newly recruited forwards, Cale Sanders, Riley Gannon, Matthew Duarte, Ryan Stepien, and Holden Rogers.
Sanders is a winger from Alberta and has played in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for both the Regina Pats and Prince Albert Raiders.
Gannon also played in the WHL with the Victoria Royals, registering 77 points over four seasons in the British Columbia capital.
Duarte is a 6-foot-4 winger who racked up a career-high of 21 goals and 59 points during the 2021-22 season with the Hamilton Kitty B’s of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL).
Stepien played for the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Kitchener Rangers, Saginaw Spirit and Oshawa Generals, and is transferring from the University of Prince Edward Island.
Rogers is also a transfer student from Toronto Metropolitan University who played for the Hamilton Kitty B’s, Milton Menace and Brantford 99ers in his junior career.
The Badgers are also welcoming new goaltender Connor Ungar and defencemen Jonah Boria and Ryan Thompson.
Ungar has played in the WHL for the Brandon Wheat Kings, Red Deer Rebels and Moose Jaw Warriors, and is coming off a solid season with the Warriors where he registered a 2.58 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
Grimsby-native Boria helped the St. Catharine‘s Junior B Falcons of the GOJHL win the Sutherland Cup in 2022.
Sanders is also an OHL alum, having played for the North Bay Battalion, Erie Otters and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds with a large 6-foot-3 frame, which should prove to be a benefit to the Badgers on the back end.
All the new recruits and returning players on the roster are hoping to make a good impression this weekend in hopes of earning the trust of the coaching staff and ultimately have a positive impact on the Badgers’ run to provincial and national success in 2023-24.
Information regarding the Brock Badgers men’s hockey team can be found here.