'The bar is extremely high': UNB Reds hope to dominate men's and women's hockey this season

It's been an off-season of change for the men's and women's hockey programs at the University of New Brunswick.

On the men's side they're moving forward without their longtime head coach Gardiner MacDougall, who left for the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League in the spring.

The women's squad is also dealing with a coaching change, with Sarah Hilworth returning to her role behind the bench after a year away on maternity leave.

But one thing that hasn't changed is the university's commitment to the two championship-winning teams.

"UNB needs to be synonymous with hockey and we want to be a hockey school," said Hilworth. "We want student athletes to want to come here to play hockey."

Master and apprentice

When it comes to new men's head coach Rob Hennigar, he truly is standing on the shoulders of giants.

He takes over for MacDougall who, over his 23 years at the helm of the program, won nine U Sports championships and 12 Atlantic University Sport titles.

But while Hennigar may be in a new role, he's not new to the team, having spent 10 years as an associate coach and four years as a player.

He said that means there will be a lot of continuity in philosophy for the program.

"Losing the best coach in new U Sport history and taking over for him has been a little bit of an adjustment, but a lot of it has stayed the same," said Hennigar. "A lot of the core values, our culture, stuff like that, the stuff that we built over the last 10 years and, quite frankly, back to when I played has remained the same."

While professionally there's been a break, with MacDougall becoming head coach of the Moncton Wildcats, Hennigar says that personal connection is still there.

"I actually just got off the phone with him about five minutes before I got on the phone with you," said Hennigar. "We always will be extremely tight."

It's been a promising start for the team, going 4-0 in the pre-season.

While Hennigar says there's always something to work on, he's excited about what he's seen from the team so far.

"We've seen a lot of good things. I think the young guys have jumped in and done a great job right away," said Hennigar.

Back at it

Behind the Women's Reds bench, Hilworth is returning to her role as head coach after a year of maternity leave for the birth of her first child, Gray.

She said her daughter is already a huge hockey fan and has had an impact on her coaching philosophy.

"As a parent, I think it's important to make sure that I continue to coach these players like I'd want someone to coach my own daughter one day," said Hilworth.

"I didn't think of that necessarily before … the compassion, vulnerability and empathy that I give, that these student athletes need at times is important."

In her year away from coaching, Hilworth said she still paid close attention to the action on ice, attending many home and away games and remaining a fixture in the locker room.

She had much to cheer about as her associate coach, Kyle MacDonald, led the squad to their third straight AUS Championship as interim head coach. MacDonald has since left to join the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the QMJHL,

While the women's team faltered in the U Sports championships, Hilworth has nothing but praise for MacDonald.

"I thought he did a great job, and I think he helped this program win again and get it to a place in the AUS where people see us as that contender," said Hilworth. 

It hasn't been an easy pre-season for the squad, going 1-3 overall and losing to to Fredericton rivals St. Thomas University.

But Hilworth says she's not concerned about the pre-season record. She's focusing on the process and the regular season.

"For us, it's all about growth mindset, taking it day by day, seeing how we can be the best," said Hilworth.

Looking ahead

Hennigar said the expectation remains the same for the men's team and that "the bar is extremely high." 

That's an understatement, considering their back to back U Sports championships. Still he said the conversation has never been about winning, but getting better.

"What we do talk about is just getting better every day, trying our best," said Hennigar. 

For the women's team, which is still somewhat rebuilding after being reinstated in 2018, Hilworth said she wants to take "that step forward."

"I don't expect us to be wiping the floor by any means, but I expect us to be competitive," said Hilworth. "We want to make our way to nationals because we got a bone to pick there."

The UNB Reds men open their season at home on Friday against Dalhousie, while the UNB Reds women open their season away at Dalhousie on Oct. 4.