GBH Alumni E-News

Nothing but Good News

Posted on by Caprice St. Pierre
21
Oct

We’ve got nothing but good news today for the Bears and for the GBHA. Grab a coffee or a cold drink, because you’ve got 10 minutes of good news reading you won’t want to miss, along with some important dates to put into your calendar.

We’ll keep the best for last below, and that is GM Stan Marple’s overview of the 2025-26 team. You’ll see when you read the profiles below that both Stan and Ian Herbers and the Bears team have a lot to look forward to this year. Kudos and a huge thank-you for everyone who is going to be working their tails off for our program.

But we’ve got lots of other good things going on as well. Let’s get right at it with a full list of Short Shift items:

Short Shifts:

  • October 17-18th Alumni Weekend – the Bears host UBC on Friday night, October 17th and again on Saturday night, October 18th. We’ll have some ice time reserved on the Friday for a Old Timers game (over 50) from 3:15 to 4:15 pm and a Young Guns game (under 50) at 4:45 to 6:00 pm. If you’d like to register to play in either game, please send an email to GBHA President Graeme Craig at gcraig@ualberta.ca
    We have reserved the Bears Den for the Saturday night game with a cash bar and pizza for GBHA members. We will also hold our annual Sweater Presentation in the Maple Leaf Room at Lister Hall immediately after the Saturday night game.  Here’s a note from GBHA President Graeme Craig about the Sweater Presentation event:

“Are you busy October 18th? If not, the GBHA is hosting the annual sweater presentation immediately after the Bear’s game against UBC. Please join your fellow alumni in the Bear’s Den to watch the 2nd game of what should be a very good series. Immediately following the game, the GBHA will be putting on the annual sweater presentation in the Maple Leaf Room at Lister Hall. Traditionally we have had alumni present sweaters to the current Bears roster, placing significance on the tradition of the program and strength of the alumni group. If you can attend, please use the link to sign up below. We look forward to seeing you there!”

Sign up Link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeq2CfH58jMwZ7X6pymQ7ApAOUOrIEGuegBjdAlf3qCj_al8A/viewform?usp=dialog

  • Join us for the First Annual Golden Bear Hockey Alumni Leadership Luncheon Fundraiser Friday, October 31, 2025 | 12:00–1:30 pm | The Derrick Golf & Winter Club, Edmonton

You do not want to miss this. Celebrate leadership, hockey, and tradition at this fast-paced fundraising luncheon in support of our Golden Bears Hockey Alumni Association. Hear a special video message from Hockey Hall of Fame coach Ken Hitchcock, insights from broadcasting legend John Shannon, and an honest, inspiring Golden Bear Alumni Roundtable on the challenges and opportunities facing today’s Bears. We’ll be revealing the names of the four Alumni who are stepping up for the roundtable in our next E-News on October 15th.

Tickets: $125 each | $1,000 for a table of 8 Click Here To Buy Tickets!

  • Harlan Anderson induction into Sports Wall of Fame – Mark down October 23rd on your calendars as a key date as Harlan Anderson, one of our most outstanding GBHA members is inducted into the U of A Sports Wall of Fame.

Harlan Anderson

Check out the most impressive list of athletic and academic accomplishments that Harlan has contributed to our program:

https://bearsandpandas.ca/honors/sports-wall-of-   fame/harlan-anderson/178 , including the following:

• Golden Bears Defenceman (2003-2008)

• Three-time CIS Champion (2005, 2006, 2008)

• Four-time Canada West Champion (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008)

• 2008 Wilson Challenge Trophy Winner

• 2008 Canada West Player of the Year

• 2008 Canada West Defenceman of the Year

• 2006 CIS Tournament MVP

• Two-time Academic All-Canadian (2005, 2007)

• Two-time Canada West All-Star (2007, 2008)

• Two-time CIS All-Canadian (2007, 2008)

We hope you’ll join a number of GBHA members as we celebrate Harlan’s induction ceremony. Here is information sent to us by Associate Athletic Director Tawana McLeod on the two events being held on October 23rd:

“I am reaching out as you have an alumni who will be inducted into the Sports Wall of Fame on Thursday October, 23. I am asking that you send the below information out via your platforms and invite your alumni to come and celebrate this year’s inductees. It would be great to see alumni out to support your inductee. Use the information below as you see fit. There are two “events” the first is a reception hosted by Athletics, this happens on Social Street outside the Hall of Fame prior to the official U of A induction event. Our event is meant to be social with few formalities, as we want to give our inductees an opportunity to see and chat with friends and former teammates. RSVP is required for the SWOF Reception and the U of A Alumni Awards, both links and more details are below. “

Thank you for helping me get the word out.

Harlan Anderson – Golden Bears Hockey

Jordan Baker – Golden Bears Basketball

Heather Jones – Pandas Field Hockey

Joel Schmuland – Golden Bears Volleyball

1.SPORTS WALL OF FAME RECEPTION DETAILS – RSVP REQUIRED HERE

Thursday, October 23, 2025

Social Street – Van Vliet Complex  University Campus, 114 Street & 87 Avenue

Parking Options: Education Car Park, Stadium Car Park

Schedule of Events:

This is an appetizer reception, cash bar will be available, business attire.

4:30 PM – Doors Open for Sports Wall of Fame Reception

5:30 PM – Program & Speeches

6:15 PM – Mix & Mingle

7:00 PM – Doors Open for U of A  Alumni Awards @ Horowitz Theatre (2 minute walk from Social Street)

2. U OF A ALUMNI AWARDS INDUCTION CEREMONY:

RSVP HERE

7:00 p.m. Doors open

7:30 p.m. Ceremony

Dessert reception to follow

  • Got What it Takes to Be a Golden Bear?  Our social media campaign aimed at highlighting the Bears program to major junior players in the Western Hockey League is off to a terrific start!
  • The message we’re delivering to the 23 teams in the WHL is this one: “Got what it takes to be a Golden Bear?” We’re pointing out our winning tradition, the best in North America, and all strengths our program offers from an educational, career advancement and GBHA support. Delaney’s really started to get engagement on a number of social media platforms – here are some examples of her work:

Here’s how you can follow the GBHA across these social media platforms:

Bear Necessities Fund – Round Two: Huge thanks to the 20 GBHA members who’ve stepped up so far with a total of $1,775 through individual contributions ranging from $20 to $200 so far in support of the Bear Necessities Fund. This is the money we use to support our website, social media, media relations and other initiatives without having to dip into funds that otherwise are going to the Bears.

Our first appeal to the BNF earlier this year brought in $5,000. We’ve used a little more than $4,000 of it – about $500 per month – and are coming back to you now with a second appeal. The biggest use of the funds will be our social media campaign mentioned above, as well as continuing to ramp up the work that Delaney Miles is doing along with Caprice St. Pierre as our GBHA feature writer.

Thank you in advance for chipping in if you can – here’s the link: https://gbhky.com/product/the-bear-necessities-fund

And here’s who’s led the way so far: Adam Morrison, Bill Moores, Bob Steadward, Bret Walter, Cam Danyluk, Clark Jantzie, Dale Henwood, Dan Bouwmeester, Dave Carlyle, Graeme Craig, Jim Ofrim, Jim Wishloff, Luke Tollenar, Mike Ballash, Mitch Topping, Rick Peterson, Ron Heck, Stacey Wakabayashi, Stan Marple and Steve Knowles.
A small BNF donation goes a long way. So far only 18 out of our 600+ E-News readers have chipped in. Let’s see if we can get that number higher. A lot higher.

’74-’75 National Champions’ support: Thank-you to Brian Middleton for this pic below of a recent get-together here in Edmonton of members of our ’74-’75 national championship team who are rallying in support of Randy Lemay, who’s pictured below in the centre of the bottom row along with Ross Barros, Craig Styles, Clark Jantzie and Jim Ofrim. Those of us who’ve played with Randy or spent time with him at all over these past years know that, as he faces some significant health challenges, being part of our team and seeing his teammates, as well as being a proud GBH Alumni, are all an immense source of strength for him and for his wife, Becky.

  • Luke Siemens steps up: Kudos to GBHA member Luke Siemens who answered the call in the last E-News to come out and support this year’s Bears with some advice and mentoring on post-graduate career opportunities in the financial services area.
    Luke is an Associate Investment Counsellor with RBC Phillips, Hager & North Investment Counsel, one of Canada’s leading money managers. I mentioned in a short note to him that PHN is the gold standard of money managers in Canada and what he’s doing is an outstanding example of what our GBHA members can offer in support of the team and play an important role in future recruiting efforts. Here’s Luke’s LinkedIn profile: (4) Luke Siemens, CFA, CFP | LinkedIn– he has completed his CFA designation, which is a very highly sought after accomplishment in the financial services industry. Here’s a short note from Luke in return: “I’m always happy to help young professionals in their careers. I am also involved with the future professionals committee with the CFA society as well for Edmonton so can chit chat about CFA if wanted.  Appreciate the kind words about PH&N – definitely a career destination for myself and will be here for the long haul.”

A Note from Stan Marple on the 2025-26 Golden Bears

Welcome to the 2025 / 2026 edition of the University of Alberta Golden Bears Hockey team.

Well, we had a very good recruiting offseason in 2024, and it looked like we had restocked the shelves at Clare Drake Arena for a few years to come.  Coach Herbers and I had been anticipating over the next couple of years, that we would be building another team, capable of helping us win our 17th National Title.

Losing out in the play-off semi-finals of Canada West last season to MRU was very disappointing, but as the offseason progressed, Coach Herbers and I found out that we would become even more disappointed, and much busier recruiting, than we anticipated. We knew we were losing some key veteran Bears to graduation, who were ready to move on, but we did not fully anticipate losing 13 players from the 2024 / 2025 team, including 10 of our top 13 scorers.

This off season we lost team captain Josh Prokop who graduated from the U of A with a degree in business, and after having an ATO with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL at the end of the season, he then signed his first pro contract with the Herning Blue Fox in Denmark this summer. Another business grad from the U of A, and assistant captain, Eric Florchuk, signed in the Austrian League with the Vorarlberg Pioneers of the ICEHL. While recent KSR grad, Tyler Preziuso, signed with the Guildford Flames of the EIHL in the UK.

We knew we were losing those three valuable veterans, but we didn’t anticipate losing seven of last year’s team to the NCAA, some as late as the end of July. Here is the list:

  • Aidan De La Gorgendiere, Sean Tschigerl, Mac Lajoie and Brett Hyland all determined they would find greener pastures at Omaha Nebraska, playing NCAA Div 1 hockey for the Mavericks.
  • Ty Nash, decided to stay at home and play for the ASU Sun Devils NCAA Div 1, while Tyler Palmer, decided to play at Bowling Green University, for the Falcons also NCAA Div 1.
  • Connor McClennan was a late summer loss to Bemidji State University, as he decided to play for the Beavers, once he found out that he had two years of eligibility left, in the NCAA.

The two late losses that perhaps hurt the most, were ones that we were not expecting, but under the circumstances we understand why. They were the loss of Jakin Smallwood, to ERC Inglostadt of the German DEL and Elias Carmichael, to HK Nitra of the Slovakian Elite League. Both players were able to obtain their German and Slovakian passports this summer respectively, and quickly signed pro contracts, as they can play in those countries as domestic players.

We wish all our departing players the best of luck and thank them for their contributions to the GBH program, and we hope that they will be able to fulfill their hockey aspirations, with the paths they have chosen.

As mentioned, a little more work to do than anticipated this off season, but Head Coach Ian Herbers and I are very, very pleased with our new additions to the team, who are all very motivated to be here, and thus far have been fully buying into the GBH tradition, of having a “Team First” mentality. Here they are:

  • # 7 Owen Pederson – Owen is a 6’3” power forward who has just come off a two-year AHL deal with Boston where he played 2 games in the AHL with Providence and 79 games in the ECHL with the Main Mariners, scoring 20 G and 19 A. In his last year in the WHL in 65 games Owen had 32 G and 42 A for 74 pts in the regular season with 12 pts 4 G and 8 A in 19 playoff games. We are looking forward to Owens experience, leadership and touch around the net this season.https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/413212/owen-pederson
  • # 5 Dawson Davidson – After a two-year leave, one year playing professionally playing for the Rungsted Seier Capitals in Denmark, and one year focusing on his academics after being accepted into the Faculty of Law at the U of A, we convinced Dawson to come back and help us lead the team in his fifth and final year of eligibility. A former USport rookie of the year defenseman, and consistent quarterback on the GBH powerplay, we are very pleased to have Dawson back with the team this year. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/200735/dawson-davidson.
  • # 29 Marcus Pacheco – Fresh off a great season and WHL Championship and Memorial Cup opportunity  with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Edmonton product Marcus Pacheco will be playing for the U of A Golden  Bears this season as he peruses a Business degree from the U of A. Marcus who had a year of WHL eligibility remaining, decided he wanted to start his academic and athletic hockey experience in his hometown at the U of A. Marcus is a great skater and has an excellent work ethic, two attributes that make him an important addition to the team. In 63 games with the Tigers last year Marcus had 13 G and 14 A for 27 Points. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/588611/marcus-pacheco
  • # 35 Ethan Barwick – Ethan Played last season with Northern Michigan NCAA Div 1 – Prior to that Ethan won two AJHL Championships and two Centennial Cup Championships with the Brooks Bandits. He was also Playoff MVP of the AJHL in 2022 / 23 with a GAA of 1.88 and a save % of .929 Ethan is a very experienced goaltender, who will help us achieve our team goals this year. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/422098/ethan-barwick
  • # 18 Ryan Duguay – Ryan was a teammate last year of Ethan Barwick at a Northern Michigan NCCA Div 1. Like Ethan, another locally produced player, Ryan is a 6’ 3” winger with a great shot off the wing.  In 24 Games last year Ryan had 6 G and 2 A for 8 Pts – 3 of those goals came was a hattrick Vs. Minnesota State, which won him rookie of the week honors in the CCHA. In his last year of Jr. “A” hockey with the Melfort Mustangs of the SJHL, Ryan was a big part of the teams SJHL Championship season. In 34 games he scored 26 G 26 A for 52 pts on the season and followed that up with 14 g and 10 A for 24 pts in 17 play-off games. We look forward to Ryan’s future contributions to GBH.  https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/506116/ryan-duguay
  • # 16 Jayden Joly – Jayden is a local hockey product of Ft. Sask who just came off winning an AJHL championship with the Calgary Canucks of the AJHL. And finished off the season right, with a Centennial Cup Championship as host, with the Canucks. Originally committed to Western Michigan of the NCAA, Jayden decided to join the Bears for the 2025 / 26 season. Last season, as a winger, in 25 games with the Calgary Canucks Jayden had 12 G and 22 A for 34 Pts and added 7 G and 6 A for 13 Pts in 13 games played during the play-offs on way to the AJHL Championship. Jayden has a great work ethic, is very coachable and can make plays and create offence. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/521667/jayden-joly
  • # 14 Rhett Melnyk – Rhett is another awesome Edmonton minor hockey product who like, teammate Jayden Joly, won an AJHL Championship last season with the Calgary Canucks. Rhett is a right-handed shot that can play both centre and wing. Rhett spent most of his junior hockey playing in the WHL, with the Tri City Americans in 2020 – 2022, then the Edmonton Oil Kings where he was captain of the team in 2022 – 2023, until he was traded in 2023 – 24 to the Saskatoon Blades. Last season with the Canucks, in 54 games last year Rhett had 22 G and 31 A for 53 Pts and in the play-offs had 5 G and 7 A for 12 Pts in 13 games on the way to an AJHL Championship and a Centennial Cup Championship. Rhett had hip surgery ion the off season, but is recovering well and we hope to have him make his GBH debut before Christmas.https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/506559/rhett-melnyk
  • # 22 Ty Thorton – A 6’ 3” right-handed shot D man and another product of Edmonton and surrounding area, Ty played his minor hockey in Sherwood Park and was a teammate of Ryan Duguay on the SJHL Championship Melfort Mustangs. Ty played all his Jr. “A” Hockey in Melfort and last year he was their team, captain. Ty is a mobile D man who moves the puck well and has a high compete level. As captain of Melfort last year, Ty won the SJHL Championship and played against Rhett and Jayden in the Centennial Cup Championship.  Ty sees the ice well and last season he had 7 G and 36 A for 43 Pts in 49 games and added 1 G and 7 A for 8 Pts in 14 Play-off games. We are glad Ty to become a Golden Bear.https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/583460/ty-thornton
  • # 36 Dylan Ruptash – A product of the South Side Athletic Club, Dylan is a 6’ 1” Forward who skates exceptionally well and has nice hands. Dylan started his Jr. “A” career with the Yorkton Terriers of the SJHL and had stops in consecutive years in Spruce Grove playing for the Saints and last year in Whitecourt playing for the Wolverines, Dylan had 24 G and 21 A for 45 Pts in 52 games played. He added 4 G and 4 A for 8 Pts in 9 games for his team during the play-offs. We are excited to watch Dylan develop as a Bear and utilize his excellent skating ability. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/583507/dylan-ruptash
  • # 27 Aiden Yakimchuk – Aiden is a 25-year-old 6’ 4” 210 lb defensive defenseman from St. Albert, who played 3 years of NCAA Div 1 hockey with Lindenwood Lions in St. Louis, Missouri. Aiden has two years of Usports eligibility remining and is currently taking graduate studies at the U of A. Aiden graduated from Lindenwood with a 4.0 GPA in Biological Sciences.  Aiden is a smart player and a good skater, who moves the puck well and he is also a great team player, which is evident from the two years at Lindenwood where he was their team, captain.  A late addition the GBH team this summer, we are very pleased to have Aiden as part of this team. He will provide leadership and steadiness from the back.  https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/282381/aiden-yakimchuk
  • # 25 Jacob Dewitt – Jacob Dewitt is a 6’ 5” Defenseman who was picked 186th overall in the 2019 WHL Draft by the Regina Pats. Jacob is from a beautiful part of our country, Sicamous B.C. After parts of two years in Regina with the Pats, and a season in the BCJHL, SJHL and AJHL, Jacob decided to focus on his academics, and be part of the faculty of Engineering at the U of A.  When I found out that Jacob was enrolled and attending the U of A, I invited him out for a few skates last season, in which he did very well, but at that time he wanted to focus on his academics, so we arranged for Jacob to play some Senior Men’s hockey for the Devon Barrons of NCHL-AB Coached by GBH Alumni, Doug McCarthy. Jacob enjoyed the experience, he played well for the Barrons, and when I called him this summer to see if he wanted to join us this year, I was very pleased that he said yes. Jacob has a great attitude, is a hard worker and moves the puck well, and will only continue to improve and make our team better. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/641465/jacob-dewitt
  • # 31 Drew Sim – Drew is a 6’ 3” goaltender and is another Alberta boy, who hails from Tees Alberta and played his minor hockey with Blackfalds MHA. Drew was drafted in the third round of the WHL Draft in 2018 by the Vancouver Giants where he played from 2019 – 2021 when he was traded to the Regina Pats where he played to the end of the 2023 season. At the end of the 2023 season, Drew had successful hip surgery and signed with the Summerside Western Capitals of the MJAHL. That season Drew had .920 save % and 9 W 4L record in the playoffs. Last season Drew played for the Concordia Thunder of the ACAC. In his first full exhibition game with GBH, Drew had a 29-shot shut out, Vs. the Grant McEwan Griffins at Rodgers community arena.  https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/481765/drew-sim
  • # 40 Nikita Liberman – Nikita (Nick) is a 20-year-old 6’ 8” defenseman, and international student at the U of A, from Moscow, Russia. Nick reached out to us Via the internet this summer and let us know he would like an opportunity to be a student at the U of A and possibly be part of the GBH team. After watching Nick play Jr. A hockey in New York State last season, for the New York Apple Core, via Instat, I though he skated very well for a man his size, and that he has some great potential. Nick completed all the tasks to become an international student at the U of A, and so far, we are very pleased with his attitude and work ethic. He is appreciated by his teammates, his English is pretty darn good. Nick is working hard, at both his academics and on the ice. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/714806/nikita-liberman
  • # 23 Hlib (Gleb) Tkach – Gleb is also an international student from Kyiv, Ukraine. Gleb played Under 16 hockey in the Ukraine and then moved to Russia and eventually Sweden to play hockey. Gleb played internationally for the Ukrainian U 20 team at the world Jr. Championships in 2021 / 2022 and played a year of pro in Sweden in 2023 / 24 with Solveborgs IK in the second division. Last year Gleb took a year away from hockey, while he established himself as a student at the U of A. His agent reached out to me about the possibility of Gleb playing for the Bears, so we got in touch and after attending every summer skate with the team, Gleb showed a strong desire to be part of our program. Gleb is currently in the faculty of Arts. A great teammate who competes hard in practice and moves the puck well, Gleb will provide us with depth up front and the ability make plays offensively, while his excellent work ethic makes him valuable defensively as well.  https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/536501/hlib-tkach
  • # 13 Chase Visser – Chase is a 21-year-old from Barrhead, Alberta, who played his minor hockey in St. Albert and played in the AJHL with the Lloydminster Bobcats and the Nipawan Hawks of the SJHL. After a year of college hockey in the states, with Jamestown University of the ACHA, Chase decided that he wanted to get a degree from the U of A. Once accepted to the Faculty of KSR this spring, Chase reached out and asked for the opportunity to try out for GBH and he made the team as a walk on player. Chase is a great teammate who works hard and is pushing his teammates to be better every day in practise and as a result is getting a little better each day himself. We are very glad he reached out to Coach Herbers this summer, Chase is a welcome addition to the team. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/507383/chase-visser

That rounds out the 2025 / 2026 recruiting class for the U of A Golden Bears. With so many new faces, we have a lot of work and teaching to do, but as a Coaching Staff, Head Coach Ian Herbers and myself along with Derek Hemsley, Luke Tollenaar, Dave Rathjen, Phil Daly and Bruce Lamar are very excited about the potential of this group. The leadership that we have retained this year, from all our veteran players, will be paramount. They are all 100 % in and committed to the team goals they have set for the program this year.

Thanks for your continued interest and support.

Caprice St. Pierre

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