By Alex Wauthy
As he bides time in the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC), third-year forward Chris Playfair hears muffled cheers seep through the arena’s walls. The connecting tunnel between the home locker room and thousands of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students waiting in the bleachers is what houses the Bold men’s hockey team. The squad awaits the announcement of the starting lineup behind the curtain that drapes over the tunnel’s entrance. Butterflies fill Playfair’s stomach—the noise helps him visualize an arena packed with fans. His imagination is spot on. A raucous Homecoming crowd is surging with excitement on the other side.
The long-awaited reveal of TMU’s new mascot—Frankie the Falcon—brought the crowd’s first pop of the night. Amid the chaos and screams, a staff member believes they hear Playfair’s name. They scurry through the tunnel to Playfair and rush him onto the ice. The curtain peels back, revealing the Bold’s team captain in his blue and gold uniform—donning the trademark ‘C’ on his chest.
Blinding strobe lights blur Playfair’s vision as he steps onto the ice. He does a couple of quick laps around the rink, unable to see much as his eyes recover. Once his vision adjusts, he sees the cheering fans decked out in school colours.
“[Those are] kind of the moments you live for,” Playfair said. “You gotta cherish those moments…sometimes it’s okay to step back for a second, enjoy it and soak it all in. That’s kind of what I did.”
While the special night seemed like it was off to a picture-perfect start, Playfair wasn’t supposed to be on the ice during warmups just yet. A miscommunication between staff members sprung him into the rink earlier than expected as Frankie basked in all the glory. As the two skated around, the captain’s vision returned just in time to avoid a collision with the new mascot. From Playfair’s account, he or Frankie could have been run over by one another—he’s just unsure who would’ve been at fault.
“I don’t think that would have been a good start to the season,” Playfair said. “It might have been some bad juju.”
The mistimed appearance is just a funny memory to Playfair now. As for the game itself, Playfair won’t soon forget the Bold winning 4-2 in front of their home fans. The crowd served as a potential preview of what the U Sports national tournament hosted by TMU could look like in March 2024.
“It might have been some bad juju”
The men’s hockey national tournament will be the first one hosted in Ontario since 2010 and the first ever to be held at TMU. The event’s hosts automatically qualify for the tournament—giving the Bold a chance to show off the program’s progress over the years on a national stage.
“We’ve earned this opportunity over the last five, six years,” head coach Johnny Duco said. “We’ve been pretty consistently at the top of the standings in our conference. Two years ago, we earned a spot in the national tournament and showed we can play at that level… I think it’s a perfect match and a great opportunity for us to showcase our brand.”
The excitement for the national tournament bleeds through the hockey program. The Bold have maintained their status as one of the top teams in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) over the last few years. With nationals coming to their home-building, recruitment was a clear priority through the summer.
“In a normal year, I don’t know that we would have gone about recruiting the same way we did this year,” said head coach Johnny Duco. “That being said, we knew we were in the national tournament and if you’re going to win at the national tournament, you need to have a veteran hockey team.”
Recruiting veteran players was a goal for the Bold. Of the nine fresh faces on the roster, six already had experience at the university level. Fourth-year forward Zach Roberts and defenceman Cole Cameron came from the Guelph Gryphons. Second-year defenceman Jaden Condotta and fourth-year forward Carson Gallagher, two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) transfers also joined the team. Rounding out the six veterans are third-year forward Danil Antropov and fourth-year forward Will Sirman transferring from the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers and the Queen’s Gaels respectively.
Of the three first-years, forward Daniil Grigorev had the most interesting lead-up to his recruitment. The 19-year-old Russian spent time in recent years playing Russian minor leagues with Matvei Michkov—a National Hockey League (NHL) first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers. Despite being the youngest player on the team, he got a long look from the coaching staff in the pre-season and would frequently play near the top of the lineup.
“Hockey and all sport is a bit of a copycat league,” Duco said. “If you look at some counterparts— Quinnipiac, who won the NCAA men’s championship last year, the Vegas Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup [in the NHL], a common theme that you find amongst these teams is that they’re deep.”
Through their recruitment process, the Bold seem to have accomplished their goal. They possess a four-line forward attack that can push in waves, a hard-nosed, defensive-oriented blue-line, a rock-solid goaltending tandem and several players chomping at the bit to get into U Sports action.
“If you’re going to win at the national tournament, you need to have a veteran hockey team”
Returning third-year forward Kyle Bollers—who was the OUA’s top point-per-game player last year—is back in action following an injury that sidelined him in the second half of last season.
To help on the offensive front, the Bold have returning third-year defenceman Elijah Roberts. While his title is a defenceman, Roberts has played as a forward throughout the pre-season—just as he did in the 2021–22 season. His swiss-army knife approach to the game makes him a dual threat in each zone.
Playing into the rugged style Duco is looking for, the Bold’s coach can throw out the defensive shutdown pair of second-year defenceman Evan Brand and third-year Joe Rupoli—a stifling duo that can frustrate oncoming attackers. If he wants a smoother skating, two-way defenceman to chip in a bit of offence, he can turn to agile third-year Ryan Wells.
With the Bold’s pre-season games complete, the players are finally getting back into their groove. Bright spots have emerged, most notably their second-year goaltending tandem consisting of Kai Edmonds and Ryan Dugas.
“I think that’s the biggest strength of our hockey team,” Duco said. “Kai Edmonds has come back and looked phenomenal… he was one of the best goalies in the league last year. But the way Ryan Dugas has come back and how good he’s looked, it really gives us a one-two punch that, we feel, is one of the best combos in the league.”
Unsatisfied with their early exit last season, this year is a chance to capitalize on their team depth squad and on hosting nationals. However, the team realizes they can’t overlook the season before that lays them.
“We’re trying to win the OUA,” said Edmonds. “That’s our first goal this season. We’re not happy about last year and we got a really good team.”
This level of commitment is also a way for the team to bond. Each player wants to impress themselves, their teammates and their coaches.
“I think we’re all building our confidence throughout this pre-season,” Playfair said. “That way, when our home opener comes against Windsor, we’re all feeling good. Nobody is gripping their stick too tight. Nobody is holding back. When we have a confident team from top to bottom, we will be a very challenging team to beat.”
A long road is ahead for the Bold with a spot at nationals waiting in March. TMU’s players and students are excited, meanwhile Frankie the Falcon is ready to represent the Bold nickname.
Confidence is the first key to success—with that, the Bold can be dangerous.
“I think they’re confident in knowing that we’re a really good hockey team,” said Duco. “If we can stay healthy, we’re a lot deeper than we were last year and [if we] lean on that, we’re going to be in a really good spot come the end of the season.”
Damian Smith
Let’s go Alex, great article