REDS Add Three For Resumed Season
(FREDERICTON, NB) Former Ontario Hockey League forward Ryan Roth, of St. Louis, Missouri, along with former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League defenceman Chris McQuaid, of Charlottetown, PE, and former Woodstock Slammers defenceman Chris Becker, from Oakland, NB, have joined the UNB REDS men’s hockey team.
The REDS will resume their 2021-2022 Atlantic University Sport schedule on Saturday. UNB plays host to the U de Moncton Aigles Bleus. Game time is 7:00pm.
Roth had been recruited to play NCAA hockey at St. Lawrence University before deciding to join the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds during their 2017-2018 run to the OHL championship series.
After two seasons in the Soo, Roth was traded to Sarnia, where he was a top-five scorer for the Sting.
In almost 200 regular season OHL games, he recorded 131 points, with 58 goals and 73 assists.
“Ryan has great pedigree and played in some big OHL playoff games with the Greyhounds,” said REDS head coach Gardiner MacDougall. “He’s known as an offensive catalyst who can make plays off the rush and in the zone, and contribute on the score sheet. He’s been impressive in our recent training sessions and will be a great second-half addition to our line-up. He’s the most recent of Dylan Taylor’s, UNB’s men’s hockey Scouting Director, valuable recruits for our team.”
McQuaid played 213 regular season Quebec Major Junior Hockey League games with Rouyn-Noranda, Gatineau and Charlottetown, before spending the 2020-21 season with the Summerside Western Capitals of the Maritime Hockey League.
“Chris will also be a valuable addition to our team and has added depth on our blue line,” MacDougall said of McQuaid. “He too has great hockey pedigree and was a top draft pick for Rouyn-Noranda. Chris has strong skating skills and a terrific work-ethic. He’s a hard-to-play-against defenceman.”
“I’m here to help contribute to the success of the team in any way I can,” said McQuaid. “It’s important for me to get familiar with the details and processes that brought this team so much success during the first half of the season while getting to know my teammates as quickly as possible since we’ll be right back into the mix very soon.”
Like McQuaid, Roth isn’t feeling any pressure joining the REDS mid-season.
“I don’t see it as a challenge,” he said. “I see it as a great opportunity to join the number one team in the league before a great playoff run. There are a lot of very talented players in that locker room. I’m just going to work as hard as I can and the rest will take care of itself.”
“The exceptional culture that the UNB program is built on is why I chose to come here,” said McQuaid. “Between the character people it has throughout the program, the winning-attitude, and the emphasis on academics, I wanted to be part of the best university hockey program in the country.”
Becker is no stranger to the REDS, having served as one of the team’s equipment managers for the past three seasons after a couple of solid seasons playing for the Slammers, a former MHL team.
Becker played 67 games with the Slammers over two seasons.
“Chris has done a terrific job as one of our equipment managers the past three seasons, in large part because of his experience as a player,” said Coach MacDougall. “He’s done double duty the past two seasons, capably filling in as required at our practices.”
“He was a top-notch player with the Slammers, has excellent hockey vision, makes great plays and is able to play defence or forward,” said MacDougall. “We’re excited to promote him to the roster this semester.”
Both McQuaid and Roth say their transition to the REDS and UNB has been great, transitions made easier because they’re both familiar with at least one other player on the roster.
“I grew up playing with Thomas Casey and we’ve been close friends for a long time,” said McQuaid. “I talked to Thomas about his time here and he had nothing but positive things to say about his experience with the program, the teammates I’d be joining, and the school, from an academic standpoint.”
With the Greyhounds, Roth played the 2017-18 season with REDS defenceman Noah Carroll, and played against the likes of new teammates Brady Gilmour, Kade Landry and Jason Willms, but it was a former RED that had a real impact on Roth.
“I played with Patrick Watling in Wheeling (ECHL),” said Roth. “I called him when I was thinking about UNB and he had nothing but great things to say about the school and the program. Outside of my family, he was the most influential person in me making the decision to come to UNB.”