Like all British Columbia Hockey League clubs during the off-season, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs were busy recruiting players for the 2024-25 season. From May to July, the Bulldogs added four players. In August, the Bulldogs signed eight players.
In a past article, I wrote about some of these recruits, including Antoine Gauthier and McCarthy Richardson. This article is mostly about the August recruits but I thought I’d also look at the June and July signings.
June and July
In June, the Bulldogs added 2006-born forward Luke Melnik from the Merritt Centennials and 2004-born goaltender Colin Winn from the United States Hockey League’s Youngstown Phantoms.
In July, Alberni Valley added 2005-born Swedish defender Alexander Ståhl. He spent the previous four seasons with three youth teams in Sweden’s Rögle BK hockey program.
Before joining the BCHL to play in Merritt last season, Melnik spent time with the Compuware and Little Caesars hockey programs. He left the Centennials in February to join the Aberdeen Wings of the North American Hockey League and played eight games for them. Melnik has since signed with the Surrey Eagles and didn’t play any games with the Bulldogs.
As for Winn, he played for several different teams in the Boston, Massachusetts area before joining the Phantoms in 2022. He spent time with the Boston Jr. Bruins, Boston Jr. Eagles, and at Bishop Kearney School. Winn also played games for the Selects Academy in 2019-20.
First August signings
The first set of August signings starts with 2005-born forward William Mitchell. Mitchell played junior A hockey with the Wellington Dukes of the Ontario Junior Hockey League over the last three seasons and also played 18 games for the OJHL’s Lindsay Muskies in 2022-23.
The next signing is 2006-born defender Kenyon McIssac, whose older brother Brady has been a Bulldogs regular for the last two seasons.
McIssac hails from Prince George and spent 2019 to 2021 with the Cariboo Cougars U15 team in the British Columbia Elite Hockey League. In 2021-22, he moved to the Burnaby Winter Club in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
Over the last two seasons, McIssac played for several teams at three different levels. For 2023-24, he got into five games with the Chilliwack Chiefs, a playoff series with the Port Alberni Bombers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, and 26 games for the Cariboo Cougars U18 AAA squad.
Coming from the Kerry Park Islanders of the VIJHL is 2006-born forward Jacob Wingfield. The Danbury, Connecticut product played the last two seasons with Kerry Park. Before joining the Islanders, Wingfield spent two seasons with the Vancouver North West Hawks program in the BCEHL.
The second batch of August signings
Coming from Gates Mills, Ohio’s Gilmore Academy is 2007-born forward Alexi Grégoire, who spent last season playing for two teams at the school. During the 2022-23 season, Gregoire played for the Ontario Hockey Academy and with the OHA’s U18 AAA Maroon team. The Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec product played four games this season for the Bulldogs before joining the El Paso Rhinos of the NAHL.
Moving to Alberni Valley from the Trenton Golden Hawks of the OJHL is 2005-born forward Gianni DiVita. Last summer, the Golden Hawks recruited DiVita from the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies program, where he spent the previous four seasons.
The second Swedish player joining the Bulldogs is 2004-born defender Carl Sandström. Before coming to Port Alberni, Sandstrom played on several Brynäs IF hockey teams, including the J20, J18, and U16 squads. He also played five pro games with Brynäs IF in HockeyAlsvenskan last season but didn’t register any points.
Later, the Bulldogs signed former Merritt Centennials defender Jonathan Wong. Before being acquired by Merritt midway through the 2022-23 season, Wong played for several junior A teams, including the Cowichan Valley Capitals, Nanaimo Clippers, and Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. Wong, an alumnus of the West Van Academy hockey program in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, also played Junior B with the North Van Wolf Pack of the Pacific Junior Hockey League.
Later in the off-season, the Bulldogs completed their goaltending tandem by signing Ryder Shea. Shea, from Framingham, Massachusetts, spent time at St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island during each of the three last seasons before signing in Alberni Valley.
Shea also played for the Boston Little Bruins 16U AAA team and the Boston Jr. Bruins in 2022-23. He is committed to the University of Maine for the 2025-26 season.
Finally, the Bulldogs signed forward Cullen Emery, who was previously a recruit for the Victoria Grizzlies in August 2023. He split last season between the Grizzlies, Merritt Centennials, and playing U.S. high school prep hockey at Dexter Southfield School. The Los Angeles, California product got into one game with Alberni Valley this season before leaving for the NAHL’s Johnstown Tomahawks.
