Griffins add seasoned NCAA vet Pernitsky and fellow AJHL alum Lyons to lineup
Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Alex Pernitsky's senior season on the blueline of the Colorado College Tigers men's hockey team didn't go as planned.
Injuries limited him to just four games in 2019-20 as he finished up with the NCAA Div. 1 squad watching from the press box.
So, with two years of eligibility left, the Unity, Sask. native decided to continue his career in Canada, returning to play north of the border for the first time since 2016 when he led the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Lloydminster Bobcats to the RBC Cup national final.
Pernitsky joins 2019-20 AJHL top-12 scorer Connor Lyons out of the Canmore Eagles as key components of the MacEwan Griffins' 2020-21 recruiting class.
Griffins head coach Michael Ringrose – who played and coached in the AJHL – keeps his eye out for alumni who've made an impression on him. Pernitsky certainly burned a memory into his brain during a two-year stint with the Bobcats (2014-16), producing nine points in 12 2016 playoff games – third-best among AJHL defencemen (No. 1 was Cale Makar).
"He's a guy I'm very familiar with because he played out of Lloydminster when I was coaching in the Alberta Junior Hockey League," said Ringrose, who was behind the bench of the Spruce Grove Saints from 2010-17.
"He'll be able to add offence from the blueline and is a complete 200-foot defender. Excellent shot. He's able to score from the point. Again, he's competitive, which is something we knew would be so important heading into the U SPORTS level."
Pernitsky brings 71 games of NCAA Div. 1 experience that adds an important element to MacEwan's roster. He's a big part of Ringrose's off-season strategy to sprinkle older players into a lineup which included 13 rookies last season as they transition to the higher-levelled Canada West/U SPORTS ranks.
"That's what we tried to do," he said. "We were really cognizant of the fact we were younger last year. And a lot of those guys now have their feet wet playing at the university level. Now they're making a jump to a new level, but they know what it's like to play against 20-25 year old men as opposed to junior players.
"We typically see a lot of growth in players between their first and second year. So, we've got a whole bunch of guys we're expecting to take steps forward who were with us last year. Then we went out and identified some key older guys who had experience playing at this level, as well, to bring them into the mix. We feel like we're going to have a little bit of an older team, a little bit more experienced. And we just feel we're more suited to jump to that next level than we would have been if we would, for example, have gone after a whole bunch of first year guys out of junior."
Connor Lyons will be looking to translate his solid junior offensive production to the Canada West ranks after finishing 12th in the Alberta Junior Hockey League scoring race last season (Pam Doyle/Canmore Eagles photo).
That first-year learning curve will be on display for the one player that Ringrose did recruit out of junior this season. Lyons, who wrapped up a solid final junior season with the AJHL's Canmore Eagles in 2019-20, will be looking to continue his offensive production at the U SPORTS level.
The 6-foot-1 winger finished 12th in the AJHL scoring race last season with 31 goals and 77 points in 57 games. The Eagles' captain added nine points in seven post-season contests.
"He was able to put really impressive numbers his last couple of years of junior," said Ringrose. "He's a competitive guy who is going to be able to score off the bat, we believe. He's going to be able to fit up and down our lineup, but we're excited to see him step into a scoring role with us. He's another one of these guys who's a complete player who has the ability to step in and have an impact for us right away."
Lyons, who relishes a contact game, also appeals to a Griffins team looking to add size on their left wing.
"If you watch the way he plays the game, he's not scared to get involved," said Ringrose. "I think he had more than 100 penalty minutes last year (122), so he's a guy who's always in the mix. He's just a competitive guy and last year took on a leadership role in Canmore.
"When we identified guys we wanted to bring in for us to be competitive going into the U SPORTS level, he checked all the boxes. He can play in both ends of the rink and is competitive."
