Huskies Men’s Hockey 2022-23 Season Preview
By Allan April / SMU Huskies Athletics
The Saint Mary's Huskies Men's Hockey team are looking to continue the momentum of last season's strong finish and surprise playoff run into this upcoming season, which begins with Friday night's home-opener vs. the Dalhousie Tigers.
"I really like the look of our team," says Huskies head coach Tyler Naugler, who was named full-time head coach of the program in April, after serving as interim head coach the previous two seasons. "I like the competitive level that we've brought every day during training camp, and I'm really happy with how guys have shown up and clearly prepared over the offseason. It's a long season, from October to March, and our guys have some significant goals for themselves this year, and I'm excited to watch them hopefully achieve those goals."
After winning their final three regular season games last season, the Huskies entered the playoffs as the fifth seed with a 10-11-2 record, and went on to upset the UPEI Panthers in the AUS quarterfinal, before being defeated in the AUS semifinal by the St.FX X-Men, who went on to win the U SPORTS Bronze Medal.
"I think last year's finish showed a lot about our group," adds Naugler. "A lot of people could have used COVID restrictions, interruptions in the season, losing players and injuries as excuses why you're not successful, but what I love about our group is that they didn't make any excuses, and they're the reason why we ended up surprising some people with our success."
With 15 first year players returning from last year's team, highlighted by U SPORTS second team All-Canadian defenceman Justin MacPherson (East Gwillimbury, ON), Naugler says the future is bright for his program.
"Every second year player gets better in this league. For Justin and our other first year players to step in and make the impact that they did as first years was really impressive, and I think we'll see them continue to improve, not only on the ice, but as leaders as well."
This season's Huskies roster consists of 20 returning players, and five highly touted recruits. The leadership group of captain Keith Getson (Bridgewater, NS), and assistant captains Sam Dunn (Hamilton Township, ON), Andrew Coxhead (Bedford, NS) and MacPherson will be asked to provide leadership and accountability on and off the ice for the young Huskies roster.
"Keith Getson is a veteran in our league who is really well-respected by teammates and opponents alike. He really embraced that leadership role as captain last year, and I think he got a great response from our team," says Naugler.
"Andrew and Sam have both been leaders on former teams that they played on, and Justin, after coming off a great season last year, he's got big expectations both for himself and the team. Our leadership group really complements our overall staff and team, they're very much vocal leaders and really intelligent young men. They carry a great communication line from staff to team, and when they speak up, the room listens."
Naugler praises the depth of his forward unit, and says that they are a blue-collar, hard-working group of players who he expects to continue to improve this year. Second year forwards Cedric Ralph (Peterborough, ON) and Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) were both on nearly a point-per-game pace last season (21 & 20 points in 23 games respectively). Getson added 15 points, as did second year sniper Bradey Johnson (Lindsay, ON). Coxhead posted a respectable 12 points in the regular season, but upped his scoring to another level during the Huskies playoff run, tying for the AUS lead in playoff scoring with 5 points (3 goals and 2 assists) in 4 playoff games.
Rounding out the returning Huskies forward group are fourth year Dawson Theede (Brooklin, ON), third years Jonathan Hampton (Richmond Hill, ON), Joel Bishop (St. John's, NL) and Sam King (Hampton, NB), and second years David Bérubé (Price, QC), Jacob Durham (Port Perry, ON) and Ben Higgins (Truro, NS).
The Huskies added a pair of highly touted forward recruits in Charlie Dafonseca (Thornhill, ON) and Ben Boyd (Dartmouth, NS), the latter of whom just joined the team last week after participating in rookie camp with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2021.
"We're really excited about Charlie and Ben," says Naugler. "Charlie is a very smart two-way player who will add great depth to our lineup with his speed and tenacity, and anytime you can add an NHL draft pick like Ben, who is 6'3", skates well, and is really skilled, he's a great late addition to our group and we're really excited to see what he brings to the table."
On the blueline, MacPherson leads a talented group of returnees that Naugler expects will continue to grow with a full season of experience. Second year Dennis Busby (Oro-Medonte, ON) posted an impressive 15 assists in 11 regular season games, and added three assists in four playoff games after recovering from injury.
Other returning defencemen include third year assistant captain Sam Dunn (Hamilton Township, ON), and second years Walter Flower III (Lunenburg, NS), Caelan McPhee (Ancaster, ON) and Cameron Pound (White Lake, ON).
A pair of former Moncton Wildcats teammates, Jaxon Bellamy (Hampton, NB) and Connor Olson (London, ON) join the defence corps as new recruits.
"Bellamy and Olson are two guys that are big, physical defencemen," says Naugler. "They've both got great size and skill level, and are ready to contribute immediately in this league."
A definite strength of this year's Huskies lineup is in goal, where Naugler says it is a true three-horse race as to who will be primary starter. Returning are second year netminders Matt Welsh (Halifax, NS), who was the Huskies primary goalie for much of last season and won the AUS Godfrey Award for Student-Athlete Community Service, and Justin Sumarah (Halifax, NS) who sparkled in nets during the Huskies impressive late season run and was named AUS Athlete of the Week.
Welsh and Sumarah are joined by new recruit Jeremy Helvig (Markham, ON), a fifth round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016 who joins the Huskies after several seasons of AHL and ECHL experience.
"We're in a great position with our goaltending," says Naugler. "I'm really happy with the competitive nature that the guys bring everyday in practice, it makes all of our guys better. Jeremy is new to us but both Justin and Matt have been through this before and are the best teammates on our team. We have a great dressing room and this internal competition has not affected anyone's focus, work ethic or attitude."
While Naugler may be entering his first year as full-time head coach, this will be his 21st season as part of the Huskies coaching staff, and he's a big believer in everyone in his locker room, including players, coaches, and managers.
"I just couldn't be happier with the guys I'm surrounded with. Assistant Coaches Jon Greenwood, Matt Malloy, Brad McCharles, goaltending coach Phil Wright, and Mike Fines and the managers. We've got a great staff, a great group, and I wouldn't want to go into this next tenure of my career without them," says Naugler.
The Huskies will start the 2022-23 regular season on home-ice, hosting crosstown rivals Dalhousie Tigers on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Dauphinee Centre. BUY TICKETS NOW.