Brock Press

Issue date: 3/16/10 Section: Sports

After a 9-17-2 OUA record in the 2009-2010 campaign, the men's hockey team is without a doubt looking to put the past behind them and move on to a future that consists of less off-ice distractions and more consistent on-ice play.
Vince Scott, a former University of Prince Edward Island Panther and OHLer, was one of the lone bright spots in a dysfunctional season for the Badgers. The third-year Business student led the team in scoring with a point-per-game average (five goals and 20 assists in 25 games) in the regular season.
Scoring goals was the team's Achilles' heel as they ended with a 2.18 goals-per-game average, ranking them 18th out of 19 teams in the OUA in goals.
However, Scott, a 1986-born Mississauga, Ontario native who has over three full seasons of Major Junior hockey experience with the Erie Otters and Sarnia Sting, feels as though his squad needs to recruit offense-first players in order to be more successful next year.
"I see it not being a question of us making the playoffs; we'll be in the thick of things," he said. "If we can pick up a few recruits upfront to contribute some secondary scoring, we'll be fine. […] I think at times we were a very defensive-minded team."
The Badgers lost their last six games to close out the season, sticking them dead last in the OUA West. Fortunately for the Badgers, they have above-average chemistry to be proud of.
University hockey tends to provide a setting that allows players to bond and become close friends on and off the ice via sharing the same classes, same social network and being able to play with the same core group of players year-in and year-out.
Scott is pleased with his team's ability to foster a sense of community throughout the whole roster.
"I have never played on a team with a closer group of guys. It [isn't] at all cliquey," explained Scott. "Off-ice, I thought we had great chemistry. On ice, at times, when we played the top-tier teams, the chemistry was definitely there."
Look no further than Brock's record against the OUA West division champs, the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, to understand Scott's remark about the Badgers play against inferior counterparts. Brock swept the season series 3-0.
The Mustangs are currently in the final-four for the OUA title and the fact that the Badgers not only competed with them but beat them on all three occasions shows that Brock's season was tainted by poor performances against weaker squads.
"At times, we looked at the jersey we were playing against as opposed to the main goal of playing our brand of hockey. Where we finished wasn't a good representation of how good of a team we had," said Scott.
Next season Scott is expecting to produce 30-plus points for the Badgers with a goal total over 10. Hopefully his teammates will follow suit as the Brock hockey club is in dire need of their key players providing consistent offensive production, especially against weaker opponents.

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