The Simon Fraser University Men’s hockey team ended last year’s BCIHL season on a sour note, losing to Selkirk College in the championship series. The deciding game in that series was played, for the most part, without the team’s leading goal scorer Ben Van Lare.
His injury served as a precursor to the upcoming 2013-14 season as his graduation, along with captain Chris Hoe’s and several other key players who graduated, sent head coach Mark Coletta hard along the recruiting trail to replace the offensive production that was departing. He did just that.
This offseason saw the Clan introduce a recruiting class of 12 new players, all with significant shoes to fill. The most notable players of the 2013 recruiting class are Trevor Esau, Josh McKissock and Yan Kalashnikov.
It will be hard to miss Trevor Esau when he hits the ice, as he stands 6’4 and weighs 220 pounds. Esau will bring much needed leadership and physicality to a very young squad; the physical defenseman served as captain for his former team the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL, and he also racked up 290 penalty minutes in only 159 games played. Esau will likely team up with returning defenseman Mike Ball to create a formidable defense in front of goaltender Graeme Gordon.
Incoming forwards Josh McKissock and Yan Kalashnikov will be relied upon heavily to put pucks in the net, and judging by their track record, scoring will not be an issue. Mckissock netted 51 points in 43 games for the Junior B side Fernie Ghostriders and Kalashnikov chipped in 35 points in 36 games for his former Junior A club, the Alberni Bulldogs.
The key aspect to each player’s offensive game is consistent scoring, as both players tallied, essentially, a point per game. The added production, along with the return of talented forward Nick Sandor, gives SFU a vaunted offense that could give every BCIHL goaltender nightmares this upcoming season.
As for the rest of the BCIHL, the upcoming season seems to be leading to another two-horse race between SFU and Selkirk College. Selkirk lost BCIHL leading goal scorer Jordan Wood but returned two dynamic forwards in Logan Proulx and Connor McLaughlin. Selkirk also added a former junior hockey goaltender of the year in Guelph Ontario’s James Prigione, making the Saints a formidable opponent once again.
The Clan hockey team’s regular season begins October 12 against Thompson River at Bill Copeland Sports Centre. Until then, the team will play exhibition games against cross town rivals the UBC Thunderbirds, as well as make a trip out to the East Coast of the United States to take on four NCAA Division I hockey teams. The preseason schedule will give coach Coletta a great idea of how his team stacks up against elite talent and will serve as a measuring stick for an upcoming season that should end in a championship title and nothing less.
