From the outhouse to the penthouse: small Sask. college battling for hockey title
Briercrest College Clippers men’s hockey team has shot at 1st ever ACAC championship
It's a very Saskatchewan story — a small school with a lot of pride and a robust sports program.
Briercrest College and Seminary is a small Christian college in Caronport, Sask., about 85 kilometres west of Regina.
After decades as basement dwellers in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), the school's Clippers men's hockey team finished this year's regular season in first place and is headed into the playoffs as a legitimate contender.
Success hasn't been easy, but with the help of alumni, school staff, students and the small town of Caronport, winning has become contagious.
"Funny thing is, I've actually heard people say they don't want to stop at one," said team captain Jacob Arsenault. "They want two banners, so we'll see.
"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves."
Test of faith
The men's hockey team was formed in the late '50s and had a lot of success through the years. But then the school joined the ACAC before the 1997-98 season.
It was a rude awakening. The team struggled, including losing back-to-back games 12-0 and 12-1, both to Mount Royal.
Jamie Ramer was on the team that first year in the ACAC.
"That was a big jump, a big transition for us," said Ramer, who returned to Briercrest in 2014 as head coach and is now assistant athletic director.
"[We] had a great group of core guys committed to it, but [it was] a real eye-opener, that first game in Mount Royal at the time. They shellacked us pretty good."
The Clippers won just 13 games in the first eight seasons in the ACAC and for 24 years never won more than 10 games in a season.
Last year, after 24 seasons of building, the team finally produced a record above .500.
It was Sam Klassen's first year as head coach.
"There's a lot of excitement around the program," said Klassen. "I was excited to enter into that, but it also was like, man, what if I what if I take the program backwards from that point?
Klassen played for the Saskatoon Blades in the Western Hockey League and brings his own expectations for this team, along with an awareness of the history and its importance to the school.
"We came in at the beginning of the year and we talked about how we weren't going to be scared to say that we want to be ACAC champions at the end of the year, that even though we'd only won three games the year before in the regular season, our goal was to win ACAC championship and we weren't going to be shy about that," said Klassen.
New expectations
The majority of the players on the Clippers are 20 to 24 years old. This includes their captain Arsenault. Hailing from Prince Edward Island, the defenceman was named second-team all-ACAC last season and has been a large part of the Clippers growth from a three-win team to a potential conference champion.
"I think the biggest thing was the belief going into the off-season. Without that success [last year], I think it would have been hard or harder to motivate yourself to want to put in that work, to come back to camp in the best shape possible," said Aresenault. "Having that success just kind of showed the team that we could compete and we could have success in this league."
Goaltender Alex Worthington is a fresh face on the Clippers. At 18 years old, he is one of the youngest players on the team. The former Edmonton Oil King is top-five in the ACAC in goals-against average (2.45), save percentage (.930) and winning percentage (.889), while sharing time with teammate Dominic Tmej.
Being so young on a team full of veterans can be daunting, but Worthington has seen nothing but success on and off the ice.
"I didn't really know what to expect coming in as an 18-year-old kid with guys that are 23 and 24. There's obviously nerves coming in, but they took me under their wing right away," said Worthington. "I feel like I'm the little brother on this team, but it's super fun coming to the rink with a smile every day."
With the first place finish, the Clippers have a bye week and await their opponent in the ACAC semi-finals beginning on Friday, March 8 at the Barkman Arena in Caronport.
Worthington said the goal for this year is the championship.
"We don't want to look ahead at that, but I think that's in the back of our heads," said Worthington.
After years of struggling, the Clippers have gone from an open spot on the ACAC bingo card to potential conference champion. This has changed what the rest of the league thinks.
"We know that because of the team we are and the history that we have, and now seeing the success, that teams are going to bring their best game against us every night. When you're at the top, people want to take you off top," said Arsenault. "So for us, it's just knowing that you're going to get the other team's best every night and then that's all you really need to focus on."
Ramer said he can feel teams giving that little bit extra.
"No one likes losing to Briercrest."
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