The Langley Rivermen Junior “A” Hockey Club is pleased to announce the commitment of defenseman Tony Bretzman (1994 born) for next season. Bretzman hails from Mendota Heights, Minnesota and played in a high school league for the St. Thomas Academy Cadets. In 31 games he racked up 5 goals and 24 assists.
“I am extremely excited to join the Rivermen organization next season. I did a lot of research about the Rivermen program and it really seems like it will be a great fit for me and my style of play,” said Bretzman.
Bretzman is not going to be the biggest guy on the ice at 5 foot 10, 165 pounds, but by all accounts he will be very exciting as he describes himself as an offensive defenseman,
“I am a mobile defenseman that likes to jump up in the play and create offense. I also pride myself in taking care of my own zone and making that good first pass out of the zone,” Bretzman continued, “I really like to watch Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators and mold my game after him.”
Bretzman has already been to Langley as he took part in Prospects Camp in early April. Rivermen Head Coach and General Manager Bobby Henderson was in touch with Bretzman before he came into camp and clearly did enough to impress the second year bench boss,
“Tony is going to bring a special offensive dynamic to the table for us next season. He is a great skater with a fantastic skill set and on the defensive side of things he has a good active stick and a great compete level, “said Coach Henderson about his newest recruit.
The St. Thomas Academy program is nothing short of a dynasty in the Minnesota area as Bretzman and his Cadets have won three straight Class “A” state championships in a row,
“Tony has proven he is a winner and those are the type of guys we want on our team. We don’t expect him to have to long of a transition process at all as we feel the BCHL suits his style of play tremendously,” Henderson finished.
Bretzman’s senior year was a special one to say the least going out on top as a champion. However, the cherry on top of it all came in early March when as he was announced as a finalist for the Reed Larson award which is a brand new piece of hardware given out to the top senior high school defenseman in the state of Minnesota.
The smooth skating blue-liner is very excited to come north of the border to play for the Rivermen and hopes to have another banner year,
“I want to come into Langley and be an impact player right off the get go. I want to succeed not only on an individual level, but on a team level as well and obviously the main goal is to win a championship,” Bretzman finished.
The Rivermen have released tickey prices for the 2013-2014 season! Please call the Rivermen office at 604-455-8832 or email Brandon@langleyrivermen.com for ticket information!
