In only seven seasons, the Ravens hockey team has gone from its infancy to a national championship appearance.
One of the most significant reasons for the team’s development into a national threat is due to the importance of recruiting elite local talent, according to Ravens head coach Marty Johnston.
“We’re certainly very proud of our recruiting classes,” he said. “I think if you look at most of the great teams, they’re mostly heavily major junior.”
The major junior level is for players aged 16-20 and made up of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
For elite hockey players, it is a stepping stone for the NHL. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and John Tavares of the New York Islanders are both alumni.
But for others, it can be one last stop before finishing a university education.
Linden Bahm, a Kinburn Ont. native in his fourth season at Carleton, said he can see the influx of highly skilled major junior players now playing for the Ravens—a trend he said he’s glad to see increasing every year during his time there.
“It’s a good opportunity after you’re done your major junior to go to school and get an education, and even play tremendous hockey like it is now,” he said. “Every year, there’s more major junior guys coming in and we can help them along the way.”
Mike McNamee, from Perth, Ont., is one of these rookies. He said the opportunity to play for his hometown school after wrapping up his QMJHL career was a part of his decision to commit to Carleton.
“After school, you probably won’t get the chance to live around home if you’re going to be making a living. So, I thought I’d take the chance to kind of be around my family and friends, and play a good calibre of hockey at the same time,” he said.
Tim Billingsley is another Ravens player who said he had a desire to return home after his major junior career.
The third-year defenceman from Orleans, Ont. said he’s very pleased his decision to come back to Ottawa after a long career in the OHL.
“The reason why I came back was to experience the Ottawa life that I never got to do in my late teens, and I think a lot of other guys did that as well,” he said. “There are so many attractive things about the school that can pull guys in here.”
Billingsley said these attractive features of the university pull out-of-town players in too.
Jake Cardwell, a first-year defenceman from Niagara Falls, Ont., chose to play in the nation’s capital after a junior stint in the city playing for the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL for parts of his final three junior seasons.
Despite all of the accolades that have come with deep, major junior-laden recruiting classes, Johnston said success cannot just be attributed to the recent rookie classes.
“I think it’s a credit to the guys that were here before these rookies. There was an attraction to come to Carleton because of the character people that we have, and hopefully that continues,” he said.
He also said despite major junior players being important for any team’s success, he knows how non-major junior players can be just as valuable
“At the same time, there’s some really good Tier-2 guys. Francis Dupuis won a national championship with the Pembroke Lumber Kings, and he’s our starting goalie,” Johnston said. “And Damian Cross came over from the NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] and he’s also been great for us.”
Johnston said he hopes this University Cup experience will help his players, both rookies and veterans, build a culture where national championship appearances are more frequent.
Johnston said men’s basketball coach Dave Smart, who’s been at the helm of 10 national championship teams, gave him some words of encouragement after Smart found out the men’s hockey team qualified for nationals.
“Dave was obviously happy that we made it. We were pretty happy about our experience and then he walks through the door with his 10th national championship, so we all had a good chuckle about that,” Johnston said. “Hopefully we can start doing for hockey what he’s done for basketball at Carleton.”
