With Brock’s men’s hockey team losing their final game of the season on March 14th, unfortunately there are no more Badgers’ hockey events left to cover. However, despite several frustrating losses to close out the year, Brock still had a fantastic season on the ice that merits reflection.
Key Takeaways:
1. Lightning-strike offence: All season long, the Badgers had been able to storm out to early leads and respond quickly to open periods. This pattern was more evident than ever in the OUA playoffs, where the Badgers managed to score six period-opening goals in under four minutes over their six-game playoff stretch. A lot of this boils down to tactics and attitudes implemented by head coach and OUA West Coach of the Year TJ Manastersky that have been evident since his first Steel Blade Classic last season.
The Badgers have played a tenacious defensive game that forces a lot of defensive zone turnovers, especially high in the zone. Brock has also looked to turn these turnovers into quick outlet passes to send themselves on lots of transition plays and odd-man rush chances, lending itself well to the fast-paced style of play Manastersky has looked to play.
The Badgers were extremely aggressive winning pucks back below their opponents’ goal line, creating many offensive turnovers that were easy to parlay in high-quality chances. Combined, these two stylistic elements—combined with some good old-fashioned hard work—allowed the Badgers to get an early jump on their opponents all season long.
2. Penalty trouble: While their aggressive style of play certainly helped the Badgers set the tone offensively in their matches, it also set the tone physically, which did not always work out well for Brock.
In both the OUA and U Sports playoffs, the Badgers took far too many undisciplined penalties, leaving them a man down against some of the best teams in the country all too often.
Brock led the OUA playoffs with 22 times shorthanded. Though a strong penalty-kill helped mitigate this issue in the provincial playoffs, it certainly did not in the nationals where they gave up a goal at 5-on-3 to University of New Brunswick.
When combined with their fast-paced, aggressive style of play, spending a lot of the game in tiring shorthanded situations may have also contributed to another issue: giving up goals in bunches.
Most Valuable Player:
This is a very difficult decision to make here with many Badgers having impressive seasons, though the choice is likely between forward Jacob Roach and goaltender Connor Ungar. Though it’s a split decision, since Ungar’s performance will be explored in more depth in the next section, Roach’s season will take more of the focus here.
Jacob Roach: Roach doesn’t really need The Brock Press’ recognition for his play this season; he already received glowing praise at both the provincial and national level. Roach was named the OUA West MVP for the second year in a row after finishing fourth in the league in points, second in assists and third in points-per-game. Roach was also named to the U Sports All-Canadian Second Team, cementing him as one of the top players in the country this season.
HM: Connor Ungar
Rookie of the Year
Connor Ungar: This is a much easier choice as, like Roach, Ungar has already received several awards for his play this year winning, to name a few, goaltender and rookie of the year for the OUA, as well as rookie of the year for the entirety of U Sports. Ungar also set a new program record for wins with 20, while finishing third in the country in saves (767), fifth in save percentage (.932) and ninth in goals against average (2.15). Ungar also received the biggest recognition of his career thus far on March 18th when he was rewarded with an NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
HM: Jonah Boria: Boria, who joined Ungar on U Sports’ All-Rookie Team, would have likely taken this award in any other year. Sourced from the St. Catharines Falcons of the GOJHL, the local talent was ninth among all OUA defenders in points and eighth among all rookies. Especially with the departure of Zach Taylor—the OUA West Defenceman of the Year who recently signed with the Calgary Flames’ ECHL affiliate—Boria promises to be a staple of Brock’s blueline for years to come.
