Sam Nahrgang - NAIT Athletics
EDMONTON, Alta. – The NAIT Ooks men's hockey team is set to take to the ice in their season opener on Friday night, as they travel to Calgary to take on the SAIT Trojans.
The Ooks come off of a strong 2018-2019 campaign, where they finished first in the ACAC regular-season standings for the seventh consecutive year. NAIT got a bye through the first round of playoffs and then went on to beat SAIT in a heated semifinal series. Unfortunately, the Ooks lost in the ACAC Championship series to the MacEwan University Griffins.
"The ACAC conference was much tighter this past year, which made for much more challenging games throughout the season," said head coach Tim Fragle. "We won a very tight second-round series against SAIT, and the team didn't seem to have enough after that series victory to get the job done in the final against MacEwan.
NAIT is returning a solid core of players. Returners including Captain Colton Waltz, fifth-year goaltender and former ACAC Player of the year Brendan Jensen, and fourth-year forward Jake Mykitiuk, who has finished top-five in league scoring each of his first three seasons. The Ooks also add a lot of players this year to fill the spots of those who have left. Newcomers include University of Calgary transfer - goaltender Jordan Papirny (who will begin the season as the starter due to a preseason injury suffered by Brendan Jensen), Jared Legien, Branden Klatt, Mitch Williams, Brandon Lawson, Portage Voyageurs transfer - Colby Livingstone, Sam DeMelo and Taner Miller. Also joining the Ooks is Tyler Kunz, who returns to the Ooks after taking a year off.
"We have lost some key contributors from last season's team, which presents its challenges, but with a strong group of returning players and new additions to the program, we will be striving to contend for the ACAC championship," said Fragle.
The team played preseason games with other ACAC schools such as the Concordia Thunder, Red Deer College Kings, and Augustana Vikings, all of which they won. The Ooks just returned home from Kalamazoo, Michigan last weekend, where they played their final preseason game against the NCAA #14 ranked Western Michigan University Broncos, where they lost 6-1.
"The preseason was good. I thought we got better as it went along. Our trip allowed us to build some team chemistry, and most of all, give NAIT and the hockey program global exposure," said Fragle. "They [Western Michigan] scored three late goals on us to make the final score not necessarily depict how the game went. Our guys competed hard against a very skilled team. They were able to poke holes in our game, which gave us something to go back and work on before the season."
The NAIT Ooks men's hockey team will now open up their regular season on Friday against the SAIT Trojans in Calgary at 7:00 pm. The Ooks will then return home Saturday night to host the Trojans in their home opener at 6:00 pm in the NAIT Arena.