Leadership is an important quality to have in all sports, but especially in a fast-paced game like hockey, where players must trust and depend on each other in order to succeed. It's crucial to consider leadership when building a team, and the Jacksonville Icemen did just that when they signed left winger Cameron Critchlow.
Critchlow is no stranger to stepping up for his team. The New Brunswick native's most recent leadership role was with the Adelaide Adrenaline of the Australian Ice Hockey League, where he was named assistant captain during their 2016-17 season. During his time with the Adrenaline, he scored 20 goals and had 20 assists, making it statistically the second best season of his career. He will head to Jacksonville with fresh experience on what it takes to be a role model for his team.
Critchlow was also named captain of the University of New Brunswick for the 2014-15 season. During his collegiate career, Critchlow helped lead the team to a National Title. Over the course of his five seasons at UNB, he scored 29 goals and had 43 assists.
His most impressive season, however, was his 2011-12 season with the Halifax Mooseheads, where he was named captain as well. He played in 68 games and recorded 21 goals and 29 assists. Critchlow took the helm in the playoffs that year, helping the team overcome a 3-0 series deficit. The Mooseheads captain led the way to Game 7 where he became a hero, scoring 4 goals to eventually help win the game 5-4 in OT.
Critchlow also earned captaincy with the Lewiston MAINEiacs where he was team captain, and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan where he was assistant captain for two years.
To summarize, Critchlow has held captain/assistant captain positions for five different teams over the course of his career. His amount of assists over the years show numerically that he is a true team player, fulfilling his duty of setting up goals for his teammates, while the goals he's racked up show that he is comfortable paving the way when necessary. It's safe to say that Critchlow is a versatile player who has showed his past teams that he is hardworking and dedicated.
While this is Critchlow's first year in the ECHL, his past performances look promising to the future of the new Jacksonville Icemen.
See Cameron Critchlow play for the first time with the Jacksonville Icemen on Saturday, October 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jacksonville Veteran's Memorial Arena.
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