Waterloo, Ont. – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s hockey program is pleased to announce the commitment of defenceman Callum Chisholm and forward Kallaway Mercer for the 2023-24 season.
With only two defensemen from last year’s team returning, Manager of Men’s Hockey Operations and Head Coach, Kevin Forrest has assembled a talented cohort of recruits to replenish the blueline and reinforce a forward group that will see most of its top scorers returning.
Kallaway Mercer
A physical, high-energy winger, Mercer scored 40 goals and 77 points in 103 career OJHL games with the Cobourg Cougars last season. Before joining the Cougars, he spent two years with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs, recording seven points (4-3-7) over 83 games played.
“Kallaway is a player who brings a lot of energy to his team and seems to embrace the harder parts of the game – driving hard to scoring areas, relentless puck pressure and finishing checks,” said Golden Hawks Head Coach Kevin Forrest. “Most nights he was the hardest working player on the ice, a work ethic we strive for everyday and one that is infectious amongst his teammates.”
“His shooting accuracy is one of the tools that jumped out when scouting Kallaway. His high shooting percentage on scoring chances is something we are excited to add to our lineup as we look to improve upon our 5 on 5 scoring.”
Callum Chisholm
At 6-foot-5, Chisholm takes pride in being tough to play against. After a solid rookie season with the Mississauga Steelheads, Chisholm’s offensive game blossomed in his second OHL season with the Barrie Colts, where he scored 10 goals and 23 points in 52 games. Part of that output was buoyed by his filling in at forward when the Colts were plagued with injury troubles.
“Callum is a player who brings a lot of what we need to replace on the blueline,” said Forrest. “His versatility, being able to play forward if needed, is an added bonus when dealing with injuries but his physicality and poise on what will be a young blueline will have an immediate positive impact”.
“The more people we spoke to about Callum, it was obvious he is the type of high character, great teammate type of guy you want in your locker room and in the battles on the ice, we’re thrilled to have him join the Laurier family”.
The feeling is mutual. Said Chisholm, “I’m extremely excited to be joining the Laurier men’s hockey program for the upcoming season. I’ve spoken to a lot of friends and some former teammates who attend Laurier and all of them have great things to say about both the school and the hockey program.”
“I think Laurier will be a great place to continue developing myself as a student-athlete and I look forward to getting started in the fall.”
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