Tigers add 11 recruits for this year’s campaign
Last year’s season was one to forget for the Dalhousie men’s hockey team. A league worst 3-24-1 record left them out of the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) playoffs and on the wrong side of most games, including a nine game losing streak to start the season. There were few bright spots for the team last year. An ineffective power play and penalty kill, compounded with an anemic offense and porous defense doomed the team to a basement finish.
Eleven new recruits will try to right the ship this year, coming in to fill holes in all parts of the lineup. Goaltender Corbin Boes of Saskatoon joins the Tigers after five years in the WHL. He sported a .913 save percentage and 13-1-1 record last season with the perennial powerhouse Portland Winterhawks. He will compete with Halifax native Richard Tingley who joins the Tigers after a successful career with the MHL Amherst Ramblers and third-year veteran Wendall Vye who saw 10 games of action with the Tigers last year.
On the point the Tigers will expect big things from prize recruit and Cole Harbour native Brendan Duke, who will be expected to play big minutes immediately after a celebrated career with the hometown Mooseheads, which included a Memorial Cup in 2013. The other new face on the blue line is Patrick Arnold of Oakville, Ont. who will add physicality to the Tigers with a hulking 6’4, 220lb frame. Wes Herrett, who looked great in preseason, will return to the lineup after illness kept him out of all but nine games last year. Fifth-year Ben MacAskill will provide veteran leadership and defensive presence to the Tigers back end with third-year Matt English and second-year Luke Madill.
After scoring a league low 63 goals last year, the Tigers needed to add size and speed up front. They think they’ve found that in three big bodies out of the CCHL: first years Tanner Williams, Mike Evelyn, and Steven Johnston who will be counted on to play strong two-way hockey. First years Colton Parsons and JP Harvey of the MHL will produce points if their record in junior is any indication, a trend the Tigers hope they will be able to replicate in the AUS.
Third-year Fabian Walsh and second-year Andrew Wiggington, who each had seven goals in last year’s campaign will shoulder a large part of the offense load, with help from fifth-year captain Pierre Vandall, who returns after a limited campaign due to injury. Also back in the lineup are fourth-year Brad McConnell and third-years Kendall MacInnis, Andrew Roski, and Andrew Lagan. Alex Cote and Andrew Rieder are back for their second seasons in the black and gold and injured forward Dan Joyce will join the team at midseason after recovering from knee surgery
. With the infusion of fresh faces, expect the Tigers to improve on last year’s dismal performance and challenge for a mid-table finish. A playoff berth is not out of the question for the Tigers if head coach Chris Donnelly can wring a string of good performances out of his club.
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