By Sam Beaudoin
It’s been nearly seven months since members of the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team left the ice with tears in their eyes.
In one of the most historic seasons in program history, the Bold suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the McGill Redbirds in the bronze medal game of the U Sports national men’s hockey championships, as previously reported by The Eyeopener. This was their second loss of this calibre in the past three years.
It was the second time in a week that the Bold left the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) without the medal they had hoped to hang around their necks on their way out.
In a 2023–24 campaign that saw TMU finish second in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West Conference with a 19–9 record, head coach Johnny Duco’s troops fell in double-overtime to the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes in the Queen’s Cup final.
“You learn lessons along the way when you go on a run like we did,” said Duco. “Having been to two of the last three national tournaments, I think there’s a lot of really valuable experience in our locker room.”
With the summer in the rearview mirror, students back on campus and the annual homecoming game come and gone, the Bold are itching for a redemption season to begin on Oct. 4.
“We’ve got four guys that wear letters but we’ve got a room full of leaders”
The biggest storyline for this roster heading into opening night against the Carleton Ravens is not only how this group will come back from last season’s pain but how the team will adapt to eight players moving on from the team at the end of last season.
Among those departed are a trio of players that contributed heavily to TMU’s success last season with forward Kyle Bollers, defenceman Ryan Wells and Utah Hockey Club defence prospect Artem Duda.
Bollers leaves an enormous gap on the first forward line and power play, having finished in the top five in OUA scoring in all three of his seasons with the blue and gold. Wells and Duda—in addition to fellow graduated defencemen Cole Cameron and Aaron Hyman—leave the first two pairs on the backend open for new names to claim from the fresh roster.
“Those guys were really big pieces for us last season, there’s no replacing [them],” said third-year forward William Portokalis. “It takes all of us, once we gel as a new group, we’ll find ways to replace that production.”
However, the group remains confident that with veteran pieces still in place and 13 players recruited to the program over the summer, the Queen’s Cup is still within reach.
“We’ve got four guys that wear letters but we’ve got a room full of leaders,” said Duco.
Among those leaders are forwards Kevin Gursoy and Will Sirman, who after graduating in June each returned to TMU for post-graduate studies—Gursoy for a master’s of business administration and Sirman for law. Gursoy will be an alternate captain for the Bold.
Also bringing their share of experience and leadership are two new recruits and former teammates with the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds—forwards Julian Fantino and Jordan D’Intino.
“I haven’t been here for long, but I can already sense the winning culture and that’s all you want in a team,” said Fantino.
The two join the program with a combined 355 games of OHL experience and figure to play a vital role in helping the Bold replace the power play production left by Bollers and Duda. In 51 games with the Greyhounds last season, D’Intino put up 41 points while Fantino added 22 points in 58 games.
TMU will welcome the duos’ offensive production and hope they can help replicate a powerplay that operated at 23.4 per cent last season—good for fifth-best in the OUA.
“We’ve added some really quality offensive pieces to go with the veterans we’ve got returning. I think we’ve got a really nice mix on the powerplay,” said Duco. “It’s been a strength of ours early in the preseason.”
Despite key departures, Duco will still have a strong nucleus of offensive star power at his disposal—Portokalis, Gursoy, second-year Daniil Grigorev and third-year Connor Bowie. Whether this core group of players can elevate their game this season will be a situation to monitor for this Bold team.
“I haven’t been here for long, but I can already sense the winning culture and that’s all you want in a team”
Ultimately, though, the player who has the ability to make or break TMU’s season is their star third-year goaltender Kai Edmonds. The Ottawa, Ont. product has been lights out in his first two seasons with the program—finishing in the top five of the OUA in goals-against average both years.
With one of the best goaltenders in the country between the pipes every night, the Bold have a strong chance to build off their success from last season and return to the national tournament.
“We trust [Edmonds] with literally everything,” said Portokalis. “If there’s a breakaway happening, we know [the other team] is not scoring.”
Edmonds will surely have his talents tested on home ice this season, as the Bold are scheduled to host some of the OUA’s best at the MAC—including a lethal doubleheader on Nov. 15 and 16 against the Windsor Lancers and the Patriotes respectively.
In order to achieve their goals and return to the national tournament in Ottawa this season, the Bold will need to re-establish themselves as a powerhouse team in the OUA by beating those high-end teams.
With the season just days away and last year’s heartbreak pushed aside, TMU is ready for the journey back to the Queen’s Cup final to begin.
“It’s never a straight line. There are going to be ups and downs throughout the season,” said Duco. “With the group we have, we can leave ourselves in a really good position at the end of the year.”
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