Before the 2023-24 season, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs signed several players, including 2004-born forward Grayson Badger. He was a solid addition, as Badger has led the Bulldogs in scoring for most of the season after finishing fourth last season.
As of this writing, he tops Alberni Valley’s team scoring in 2024-25 with 16 goals and 19 assists. The Hyde Park, Massachusetts product is only two points away from matching his season total from a year ago when he posted 11 goals and 26 assists in 52 games.
Badger is part of the Bulldogs leadership group this season. Along with Caden Tremblay and Brady McIsaac, Badger is an alternate captain while Zeke Nicholson is the team captain.
This article is a profile on Badger, but before that, I will give an update on the Bulldogs roster. It starts with one new and one departing player.
Allecia out, Closson in
Bulldogs forward Jesse Allecia has left the team to play for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League. He is one of several BCHL players who joined Major Junior rosters in the last couple of months.
A November rule change allows Canadian Hockey League players to play NCAA Division I hockey. This change takes effect next season and has seen many BCHL players depart for Major Junior teams.
With Allecia leaving, the Bulldogs brought in a player who started the season in the Western Hockey League, signing forward Hudson Closson from the Kamloops Blazers.
Closson is a product of the Pacific Coast Academy and the Okanagan Hockey Academy in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. Before joining the Bulldogs in late November, Closson played five games for the Blazers.
Badger starts close to home
As a 14-year-old during the 2018-19 season, Badger split time between Brookline High and the South Shore Kings 14U AAA team. He ended up spending two seasons playing at Brookline.
Badger joined the Cape Cod Whalers organization out of Scituate, Massachusetts the following season. He split the 2019-20 season between the Whalers U15 AAA team and Brookline. In 37 games for the Whalers, Badger put up 24 goals and 27 assists.
During the 2020-21 season, Badger joined the Dexter Southfield School but didn’t play games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also skated with the Whalers 16U AAA squad that season and tallied 16 goals and 23 assists in 31 games.
For 2021-22, Badger joined the South Shore Kings to play 18U AAA Prep with that program. He finished the season with seven goals and nine assists in 23 games for the Kings. As an alternate captain, Badger also played at Dexter Southfield School that season, scoring nine goals and adding 23 assists in 24 games.
Badger’s junior hockey debut
Badger made his junior hockey debut with the United States Hockey League’s Waterloo Black Hawks in the 2022-23 season. Badger only played in Waterloo until February 2023, when the Black Hawks dealt him to the Sioux City Musketeers.
Badger spent the rest of the season with the Musketeers, playing 18 regular season and two playoff games. In Waterloo, he had a goal and four assists in 33 games, while in Sioux City, he posted a goal and an assist.
Coming to Port Alberni
In July 2023, the Bulldogs signed Badger. They had just come off a deep playoff run where they lost in four games to the Penticton Vees in the Fred Page Cup final.
In his debut BCHL season, Badger put up 11 goals and 26 assists in 52 games. As noted above, Badger has already surpassed his 2023-24 point totals. In the post-season, Badger tallied eight goals and 12 assists in 18 games.
According to Elite Prospects’ projected stats, he is on pace for 29 goals and 34 assists this season.
As a 2004-born player, Badger is in his final year of junior hockey. After this season, he will attend Northeastern University in Boston, which brings him closer to home. For now, Badger leads the Bulldogs’ offense and has helped propel them within striking distance of first place in the Coastal Conference.
Photo credit: Island Images Photography
