St. Albert Steel sniper Bryce Williamson scored a scholarship recently with the Bowling Green State University Falcons.
"When it came time to make my decision I had quite a few opportunities to choose from. It was a tough decision but I chose a place I thought would be the best fit for me," said the Steel's MVP, leading scorer and top plus/minus player in 2008/09. "I'm really excited to have that out of the way and get back to playing hockey and helping our team win hockey games."
Williamson checked out the campus in Bowling Green, Ohio during a visit in mid-November and was impressed.
"I really liked the coaching staff," Williamson said of head coach Dennis Williams and assistants Mike Mankowski and Scott Stirling of the Falcons, 2-10-2 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. "It was a cool college town and I really liked that idea of it. I liked how everyone in town treated all the people that went to university with respect. They love their athletic programs and they really support the university and the town."
While weighing his options, the veteran right winger from Seba Beach got off to a flying start in his fourth and final Alberta Junior Hockey League campaign with 35 points in 17 straight games (14 goals and 21 assists).
"I wanted to have a good year and I figured if I kept moving forward in the right direction, I would get some more bites," said Williamson, who will study business or finance at Bowling Green. "When you're going through the process of choosing a school there is a lot on your mind. You're always thinking about it and always talking to someone about it. It kind of takes your focus away from hockey a little bit. With this out of the way I can just focus on hockey and make more strides to get better as the season goes on."
Williamson, who turns 20 on Dec. 23, is on his way to leading the Steel in scoring for the third straight year and is expected to play in his second-straight AJHL all-star game. His 62 points in 35 games ranks fourth in the AJHL scoring race and is eight away from tying his personal best of 70 points, set last season in 58 games.
Williamson also shares the team lead in goals with 18-year-old left winger Dan Carr (scholarship-bound to the Union College Dutchmen) at 24 apiece and is tops on the team in assists (38) and game winners (six).
"It's been good but the bottom line though, is our hockey team has got to win for us to go far, right?" said the Steel's franchise leader in games played (154), goals (85), assists (108), points (193) and power play goals (40). "I can still do more things and contribute more to the team and get more wins for our hockey team."
Saints on tap
Tonight at the Grant Fuhr Arena the midget AAA product of the Maple Leaf Athletic Club will play in his 200th AJHL game when the Steel face-off against the Spruce Grove Saints (30-3-1-3), the number-two ranked team in the Canadian Junior Hockey League. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
In the north standings, the Steel (15-16-1-3) have distanced themselves from the seventh-place Lloydminster Bobcats (losers of 10 straight games) with 12 out of a possible 16 points in their last eight games. The Steel are 5-3-0-2 in their last 10 games after edging the Calgary Canucks 6-5 Sunday at Performance Arena on Alex Perkin's goal with 47 seconds remaining in regulation time.
In the race for fifth place in the north, the Steel are six points back of the Sherwood Park Crusaders (17-13-1-5) with a game in hand. With 25 games left in league play, a fourth place or higher finish would give the Steel home ice advantage in the opening playoff round.
"We would definitely like to get home ice but we just want to keep building and get better for the playoffs. I don't know if it really matters what place we finish in as long as we're on top of our game when we get there," said Williamson, a former Fort Saskatchewan Trader who is eight goals shy of 100 in his AJHL career.
The Steel rebounded smartly from a disturbing 8-1 loss on home ice against the fourth-place Bonnyville Pontiacs (21-15-1) Dec. 6 with a determined effort last weekend against the Canucks (19-12-2-1), ranked second in the south division, and the visiting Drumheller Dragons. In the 5-4 double overtime loss to the Dragons (11-22-0-4), last in the south, Robert Geddes scored the OT winner on a penalty shot against Mark Kotylak (10-13-3, 4.10 GAA) 39 seconds into the second five-minute extra frame, a three-on-three period of hockey.
The Steel outshot the Dragons 36-29. Leading the way offensively was centre Reed Linaker with a highlight reel goal and two assists. It was 1-1 after the first and 3-2 Dragons after two periods.
Players' meeting
After the loss to Bonnyville, in which the Steel outshot the Pontiacs 40-35 but trailed 4-0 after the first and 7-0 after the second, the Steel dressing room was locked from the outside by trainer Jerry Hampton as the team held a players-only meeting after a lengthy soul searching session with the coaching staff.
"It was really good. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" said Williamson, who scored with 5:17 left in period three against the Dragons to force OT and against Calgary picked up four assists, including the helper on Perkins' game winner. "A lot of guys had some good things to say and even guys that you don't usually expect were jumping up with some good ideas and good ways to go about making our hockey team better."
Perkins, a valuable left-winger on a line with Linaker and Williamson, tallied twice and added one assist against Calgary. Injuries and a three-game suspension at the start of the season curtailed the 20-year-old's progress but when in the line-up, the former midget AAA St. Albert Raider has given the Steel a major boost offensively as well as physically. He had a wild fight against Matt Brown of the Dragons, as both players traded haymakers in a lengthy bout during a penalty-filled second period.
Steel rookie Chris Sharkey (5-3-1, 3.96) posted the win against Calgary. Shots were even at 30 apiece. Period scores were 4-2 and 5-4 Steel.
The Steel skate into the Christmas break with Friday's game in Bonnyville at 7:30 p.m. before returning home to host the last-place Drayton Valley Thunder (7-26-1-2) Sunday at 2:30 p.m. and the third-place Fort McMurray Oil Barons (25-11-1-2) Tuesday at 7 p.m.
