Simon Fraser University is pleased to announce Aldergrove Kodiaks defenceman and captain Ty Pickering as the second member of the 2020/21 recruiting class.

Pickering comes to SFU after four seasons with the Kodiaks of the PJHL, the most recent of which he spent as captain.

“I’m very excited to join the team,” he said. “We should have an exciting team that competes for a championship.”

With nine goals, 27 assists, and 36 points in the 2019/20 regular season, Pickering was second in team scoring for the Kodiaks, and led the team in assists. Before playoff play was suspended, Pickering put up eight points — four goals and four assists — in nine games.

In his junior rookie season, Pickering won the PJHL Championship with the Kodiaks. He describes himself as a “puck moving defenceman who can play on both sides of the puck.”

“He’s obviously got offensive upside, which is key. But most importantly, he’s got a little bit of a mean streak to him on the defensive side of the puck. We need a little more grit and nastiness back there,” said SFU head coach Mark Coletta.

Kodiaks head coach Chris Price spoke highly of his team captain: “He was a beast for us,” said Price, who took over as coach of the Kodiaks in November. “He quarterbacked our first unit power play, but on the flip side he was a first unit penalty kill. I used him and his partner, and they matched up against every team’s top line or top players. We didn’t do awards, but I’d say he was our MVP in my opinion."

“He’s for sure a two-way defenceman, he’s really good defensively, he’s hard to play against. But at the same time he has the skating and puck skills to get away on a forecheck and make a good first pass, and join in on the rush. He’s really good on the offensive blue line, like walking the line, being super heads up and finding guys, finding lanes to the net.”

Pickering says his goal at SFU is to “contribute defensively and offensively and win a championship.” He will study psychology.

While he’ll be joining the team as a rookie, he has a familiarity with the room, having been teammates with a number of current SFU Hockey players, including Eric Callegari on the Kodiaks PJHL championship run and Mateo Coltellaro.

“We need to solidify our back end, our forward group is going to be returning for the most part. Our back end needs to get more depth, and I think Ty is that guy who can make a name for himself at training camp and jump right into the lineup,” said Coletta.

Additional recruit announcements are to follow in the coming weeks.