By Jadon Frank

Briercrest hockey will be experiencing an influx of student-athletes for the winter semester, coming from several different avenues.

New to Briercrest this semester will be Strathmore, Alberta’s Lucas Ford and Surrey, BC’s Kyle Golz. Ford comes to Briercrest after playing for the Strathmore Wheatland Kings and Three Hills Thrashers in the Heritage Junior Hockey League (Junior B) the past five seasons. He also had a short stint playing for the Quesnel Millionaires (Junior A) of the British Columbia Hockey League in 2009-10. Golz comes to Briercrest after playing in several leagues in BC, including the BCHL with the Quesnel Millionaires and a short stint in the Western Hockey League with the Prince Albert Raiders in 2008-09. Most recently he suited up for the Grandview Steelers of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League (Junior B) for the past two seasons.

Briercrest head coach Dalton Stoltz is excited to add these experienced players to the roster.

“Golz brings experience and much needed size through the middle for us,” Stoltz said. “He is a fine young man and he has a bright future with us at Briercrest. Ford is a special player who brings a scoring touch to our team.  He works hard and has a great sense for the game.”  

Michael Fisher and Kendall Hart will be returning to the Briercrest campus after taking time off. Fischer last played for Briercrest for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons before taking the fall semester off to complete an internship in Europe to help complete his Global Studies degree. Hart last suited up for Briercrest during the 2009-10 season and last played for the Carnduff Red Devils.

Stoltz is pleased to have these players return to give leadership to the young team.

“Hart adds size to our third line,” the first year coach said. “His return to Briercrest will only help him and the team move into a new era of Briercrest hockey. Fischer has a work ethic that is needed by every member of our team.  He is a quality individual and I look forward to him finishing his college career this semester.”

After not playing during the ACAC regular season in the fall, both Aaron From and Morgan McNeill are excited to get out of the stands and to suit up in the navy and gold this semester. Six-foot-three From will bring some additional size to a small Briercrest team, while McNeill brings experience and skill from his experience playing in several Junior A hockey leagues across Canada and most recently with Ryerson University in the CIS.

The addition of these six players will give Coach Dalton Stoltz and the Briercrest hockey team some flexibility when creating a line-up as well as creating competition as players compete not only for roles, but also for places in the line-up.