Former North Stars (Top L-R): Rylan Nivon, Rory Davidson, Connor Manegre. (Bottom L-R): Seth Summers, Taryn Kotchorek. (Photos/ACAC Athletics)

By Martin Martinson

Series starts Friday

ACAC Men’s Hockey Final to feature familiar faces of North Stars alumni

Mar 17, 2022 | 5:10 PM

The Concordia University Thunder and NAIT Ooks men’s hockey teams will face off in Game 1 of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) hockey final Friday night, in a series featuring a number of familiar faces to North Stars fans in the community.

Concordia features Stars’ alumni, Rylan Nivon (2019-20) and Rory Davidson (2015-16) up front, along with defencemen, Seth Summers (2018-20) and Connor Manegre (2016-18) on the back end – each of whom won a Canalta Cup during their time with the Stars organization; Manegre in 2017 and Summers in 2019.

Former North Stars, Seth Summers (L), Rylan Nivon (top R), and Connor Manegre (bottom right). (Submitted photo/Christopher Matt, CUE Department of Athletics)

At the other end, NAIT also boasts a former North Star and SJHL champion, in goaltender, Taryn Kotchorek (2015-18).

Nivon tied for the Thunder lead in scoring this year with 17 points in 15 games, in this, his first year of play at the collegiate level. Summers, meanwhile, finished just back with 11 points in 16 games as a defenceman in his first season; a season he has spent alongside Manegre as his blue line partner on the Thunder defence.

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“I quite enjoy playing with him,” Summers said. “He’s more of a defensive-defenceman who likes to take the body and I think we make a nice d-pairing where I’m more the offensive guy, so it’s really been great; he’s a great friend and a great d-partner.”

Summers said Concordia’s run to the league final this year rings reminiscent of another playoff run he was a part of during his time in the Battlefords.

“It reminds me a bit of our 2018-19 year with the Stars,” Summers said. “We had to face a lot of adversity and a lot of people were saying it should have been a rebuilding year, but then we ended up winning it all. This year we were doubted from the start too, but now here we are, so it’s just awesome to be part of that and where we’re at today, it’s pretty surreal.”

On the other end, Kotchorek who joined NAIT last year, said it’s something special to be part of the team in their run this season as the program looks for their first ACAC title since 2016 – which marked their third in four years at the time.

“It’s really exciting and it’s something we’ve worked really hard for,” Kotchorek said of the opportunity ahead. “If you go back the last two years, with the COVID shutdown last year but still practicing, we’ve been really fortunate to get to play in the finals this year, and it’s been a long time coming for a lot of our fourth and fifth-year guys. So we’re looking forward to it and excited to be in this position.”

Kotchorek, who played three seasons with Manegre on the Stars, said the pair still keep in touch often.

“Last year I lived with Connor Manegre and he’s one of my really good buddies, so we always have a little rivalry going there and he kind of made a little joke at the beginning of the year saying ‘see ya in the finals,’ and now here we are, so it’s kind of come full-circle,” Kotchorek said with a laugh. “I’ve been sending him some messages throughout the playoffs and wishing him luck, so it’s been fun that way, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Asked if there would be any friendly wagers on the outcome of the series, Kotchorek just laughed. “We’ll see about that, but I might just keep that to myself for now,” he added with a wry smile.

A best-of-five series, Game 1 will be Friday at NAIT, with Game 2 at Concordia Saturday. The full series schedule can be found online here.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1