critchlow returns to v-red roots

By BRUCE HALLIHAN

     hallihan.bruce@dailygleaner.com

01 Jun 2012 08:51AM

Gardiner MacDougall has reeled in a recruit who’s been on his radar for a decade.

The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds head coach has added an original 1991 V-Red Prospects forward, Cameron Critchlow, who’s wrapped up his five-year Quebec Major Junior Hockey League career. He was team captain of both the Halifax Mooseheads and the Lewiston Maineiacs.

Critchlow, 20, played two seasons in Fredericton — one peewee AAA and one bantam AAA — before heading to Saskatchewan to spend two years with the Notre Dame Hounds program in Wilcox.

Each summer, Critchlow has made his way back to the Aitken University Centre for UNB hockey camps.

“It’s pretty exciting stuff,” said Critchlow of choosing UNB. “My first tournament with the V-Red Prospects, I was probably 10 or 11. They run a great program with the summer hockey camps, and I guess that’s where it all started.

“Obviously, UNB has the reputation and the history in recent years of being a very successful team and a great program as well. The hockey program is A-1 and so is the academic part.

“I know Gardiner is an excellent coach and they’ll have a very competitive team,” he said. “I was recruited by a lot of schools, but the main thing that attracted me to UNB is the battle level of each player. Each player wants to get better every day, so I can’t wait to surround myself with people who have the same goals as me — looking to get to the next level.”

Critchlow, who has played all three forward positions and the point on the power play, has earned an invitation to the Edmonton Oilers NHL summer development camp in late June, where he hopes to make a good enough impression to be invited to Edmonton’s rookie camp in Septembe r.But he sees that as more of an opportunity “to get my foot in the door” than to stick in the Oilers’ system right now. Realistically, he expects to be at UNB, working towards an undeclared degree and trying to help the V-Reds earn a spot in the CIS Nationals in Saskatoon.

Critchlow, who had two deep playoff runs in the QMJHL, wants to be part of a banner-raising team.

“You play the game to win,” he said. “The mind-set of the team and the coaches is to win every game in front of us. They’re not only looking for an Atlantic championship but a Canadian championship is always in their sights every year.”

MacDougall said Critchlow deserves the invite to Edmonton’s summer camp.

“I think that’s why it’s so important to play that 20-year-old year (of junior) — because you get those good opportunities,” MacDougall said. “Cameron was a good, solid player but he grew his game this year in Halifax. He had a great impact on the growth and development of their team, on and off the ice. People down there just rave about his leadership qualities.”

Critchlow set career highs with the Mooseheads, collecting 21 goals and 50 points in 68 regular season games, then elevated his offensive game again in helping Halifax advance to the third round of the Q playoffs.

He had 19 points, including a dozen goals, in 16 games. He fired four goals in a 5-4 overtime win over the Quebec Remparts in Game 7 of their second-round series.

“He’s the first guy we’ve recruited who’s scored four goals in a Game 7,” MacDougall said with a chuckle.

While proud he was able to “make a difference” in the deciding game, Critchlow takes greater satisfaction Halifax was able to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.

“It seemed like nothing could go right for three games,” he said, “then everything went right for four games. You’ve got to give credit to the whole team and the whole organization, and everyone in the city stood behind us. The boys believ ed.”Critchlow helped them believe, MacDougall said, by remaining positive.

“You want to try to find the best players you can,” the coach said, “but it’s important to find the best people. He’s certainly both. He’s a tremendous ambassador. He’s been a leader and he’s a great role model in the community. He’s recognized as a person who likes to give back.

“He’s one of the most popular players in Halifax — in just one year there.”

Critchlow was a former first-round selection of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan before being acquired by Lewiston — and V-Reds’ — general manager Roger Shannon in a key trade.

“Roger’s a close friend of my family,” Critchlow said. “He’s helped me out in a lot of situations and, obviously, he put together a great team in Lewiston. It’s unfortunate how things ended there, because that team had a great chance to be a championship team as well.”

The feisty Critchlow, who’s five-foot-10 and 190 pounds, helped lead Lewiston to a solid 2011 playoff run before the team was forced to fold. He was picked up by Victoriaville in the QMJHL dispersal draft before being dealt to Halifax where his skates, as usual, doubled as work boots.

“I remember being called a hard worker when I was a young player,” he said. “I don’t know how else to play. It was the way I was brought up. I never give an inch to anyone else.”

Critchlow, who had 139 points in 313 QMJHL games, has played with two UNB forwards: Taylor MacDougall, the coach’s son, in peewee AAA, and Jordan Clendenning his first season in Bathurst.

The son of Tom and Kelly Critchlow of Moncton, he will make his first V-Reds appearance not on the ice but on the golf course. The UNB Hockey golf tournament goes Tuesday at Kingswood.

MacDougall said he has “no other recruits to announce at this time, but we need some defencemen, that’s for sure.”