The Ontario Tech Ridgebacks men’s hockey team’s home opener is just days away on Oct. 12 and head coach Curtis Hodgins is feeling optimistic about the season ahead. He’s focusing on two key goals: securing a playoff spot and making a deep post-season run.
When asked about his expectations for the season, coach Hodgins emphasized the difficulty of making it to the playoffs. “Our first goal is to make the playoffs, which is not an easy accomplishment in this division with how tough it is,” Hodgins said. “But that’s our goal, to get in and give ourselves a chance at making some noise in the playoffs.”
The Ridgebacks will need to remain healthy over the course of the season in order to have success on the ice. The team faced a challenging pre-season, with several players dealing with minor injuries. However, Hodgins is confident his team is recovering and ready. “We’re trying to get healthy after [the] pre-season [was] rife with injuries,” he said.
Coach Hodgins is confident about certain aspects of his team, especially the back ends of the team. “I think our strength will be coming from the goaltender out. We’ve got three goalies here that can all play. I think all seven of our defencemen can play. They’re going to compete with each other, and they all move pucks and play on the offensive side.”
One standout player to watch this season on the Ridgebacks is first-line forward James White, who is entering his fourth and final season with the Ridgebacks.
“White is a key player for us up front,” Hodgins explained. “He’s a big left winger at 6’4,” and he was our leading scorer last year. He’s looked really good in the pre-season, and we hope he moves on to play pro hockey after this year.”
During White’s three previous seasons with Ontario Tech, he has registered 27 goals, with a total of 57 points in 81 games.
In terms of preparation during the summer, Hodgins praised his team’s work ethic during the off-season. “The guys put the work in over the summer [and] showed great results in fitness tests.”
He also emphasized the importance of unity, describing it as the foundation of the team’s strength. “The strength of our team is being a team, and we stress that we don’t have time for individuals,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of team-building this past month.”
Having been with the program for eight years, Hodgins values the culture they’ve built inside their locker room. “The thing I’m most proud of is that we bring good people into our program and graduate them. I believe they have a great experience here.”
The Ridebacks will look to build on their successful season from last year, tallying a record of 14-13 in their respective conference, making the playoffs, then ultimately falling short to the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Fans can catch the Ridgebacks in action all season long at the Campus Ice Centre in Oshawa, Ontario. The home opener takes place on Oct. 12, a game you won’t want to miss.
To hear Coach Hodgins’ interview, click on this link.