Preview of the thrilling Steel Blade Classic that excites the entire community.
The 23rd annual Steel Blade Classic is returning to the Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines and is set to be better than ever.
On Friday, Sept. 22nd at 7 p.m, the Brock Badgers men’s hockey team will host the Guelph Gryphons in exhibition play, but the atmosphere will be much louder than a typical exhibition game.
Upwards of 3,500 fans are slated to fill the Meridian Centre to cheer on the hometown Badgers, with a vast majority being Brock students. Beyond the student body, the Steel Blade Classic connects Brock with the St. Catharines and Niagara community, as kids and families come from across the region to flood the arena and show their support.
The Badgers men’s hockey team will look to feed off that electrifying atmosphere, hoping to propel them to their 14th Steel Blade Classic victory and lift the historic sword trophy. The sword, donated by Ed Warner and his family, signifies the important connection that Brock University has to the War of 1812, since the institution is named after Sir Isaac Brock himself.
Badgers’ head coach TJ Manastersky and his team will be fiercely battling in the trenches all night given the weaponry on the Gryphons roster.
Guelph will be looking to combat their 6-2 defeat from last year’s Steel Blade and claim the sword.
The Gryphons are led by their leading goal scorer from a year ago, Zachary Poirier and his 11 goals in 20 games. Nolan DeGurse, Anthony Tabak and Luke Bignell compliment Poirier well, as the quartet combined for nearly 43 per cent of all their team’s goals last season (35 of 82 goals).
The assemblage of Gryphon forwards are also a gritty bunch, with 169 of Guelph’s OUA-leading 490 penalty minutes during the 2022-23 season. They look to play a scrappy, hard-nosed game from start to finish.
Brock will be expecting the Gryphons to battle hard in the corners, and lay massive hits every chance they get, to swing momentum away from the roaring home crowd.
For the Badgers, the key objectives remain the same from their series split against Ohio University this weekend: play hard-fought hockey for the entire 60 minutes and further build team chemistry in anticipation for the regular season opener on Oct. 6th.
Tickets for the Steel Blade Classic are $30 and can be bought on Ticketmaster. One dollar of each ticket purchased goes towards the Food First Program, which is a collaboration between BUSU, Graduate Students’ Association and Brock University.
The Badgers are also offering a unique ticket offer that allows students to purchase a ticket to both the Steel Blade Classic and Paint the Meridian Red on Nov. 25th for only $40. Stay tuned to The Brock Press for more information regarding Paint the Meridian Red coming soon.
All information regarding the Badgers men’s hockey team can be found here.