Dalhousie develops Brandon connection

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This article was published 19/03/2011 (5495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brad McConnell and Daniel Bartek have gone coast to coast since last playing hockey in Brandon and although their paths have been very different, both eventually found their way to Halifax.

McConnell, a 21-year-old Brandonite, and Bartek, a 22-year-old former Brandon Wheat King from the Czech Republic, are both commerce students at Dalhousie University — McConnell in his first year and Bartek in his second.

Together they helped the Dalhousie Tigers make the Atlantic University Sport playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. The Tigers were swept in their first-round playoff series, but McConnell is still optimistic about what the future holds.

"It sounds kinda hokey, but (making the playoffs is) actually a pretty big accomplishment because it is a really tight league," said McConnell, who finished second in team scoring with 12 goals and 22 points in 27 games.

"… It’s kind of a turning-point year for our organization and we’re only losing three guys, so it’s only getting better from here."

After winning the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League scoring title with Brandon, McConnell went the Junior A route, playing first for British Columbia’s Nanaimo Clippers and later for Alberta’s Camrose Kodiaks, leading his AJHL team in scoring last season.

McConnell said his former Kodiaks teammate Jacob Johnston, now a second-year Tiger, played a major part in convincing him to choose Dalhousie.

Although McConnell was still in Brandon when Bartek played his first of two Western Hockey League seasons with the Wheat Kings in 2006-07, the two didn’t know each other, but quickly became fast friends in Halifax.

"I had friends who were close to him, but I actually stayed with him when I first got out here just when we were getting settled into our place," McConnell said. "… We’re really good friends now and just kind of enjoy doing the same things and have Brandon to relate to, too."

Bartek was traded by the Wheat Kings to the Everett Silvertips as a 20-year-old and after wrapping up his WHL eligibility on the West Coast, he had a tryout with the National Hockey League’s New York Rangers before opting to pursue his education instead of a professional career.

"There’s a lot of young players playing (professionally) in the East Coast or in the (AHL), trying to find their way up," said Bartek, who is the only European among 275 ex-WHLers taking advantage of the league’s scholarship program this season. "I think if you have the option to take advantage of the scholarship and get your education done, you can always have a lot of time to get back on track with your pro career, if that’s what you want to do."

He joined a Dalhousie team that had finished last in the AUS in four straight seasons, but Bartek had eight goals and 15 points to help the team to an 11-point improvement in his first season. He followed that up with three goals and 11 points this season as the Tigers made another six-point improvement this season.

"I really, really like (playing in the AUS), it’s really competitive," said Bartek, who has crossed paths with a few of his former Wheat Kings teammates this season.

"Most of the players are from major junior leagues around here. Andrew Clark’s playing in Acadia, Jay Fehr was there for a little bit, Nathan Green, so a lot of good players around the league and it’s really competitive."

» rhenders@brandonsun.com