A pair of South Shore Lumberjacks have committed to Ontario Tech University (formerly UOIT) as Cody Grant and Nicolas Tardif will suit up for the Ridgebacks for the 2019-20 season.
Cody Grant was drafted in the 2nd Round, 13th overall, in the 2015 MHL Entry Draft by the St. Stephen County Aces. In his rookie season of 2015-16, the Fall River native score six goals and added five assists in 42 games. He also tallied a whopping 168 penalty minutes, which was the sixth most in the league that season. Grant would be dealt to the South Shore Lumberjacks on draft day in 2016. In his first season in Bridgewater, Grant cut his penalty minutes to just 82 and more than doubled his point total from the year prior. In 46 games, he had 12 goals and 12 assists.
Grant’s point total would grow again in 2017-18, with 19 goals and 16 assists in 45 games as the Lumberjacks returned to the playoffs. where he had three assists in 12 games. He’d be named captain for the 2018-19 season and the Lumberjacks would make it back to the Canadian Tire Cup Playoffs. His regular season totals of 17 goals and 25 assists in 44 games led to a career-high 42 points, but it was the playoffs where he took things to another level, scoring eight goals and adding eight assists in 13 games.
Nicolas Tardif spent the last two seasons in the MHL with South Shore. In 2017-18, the forward from Chelsea, Quebec scored 11 goals with 12 assists in 42 games, as well as three goals and four assists in 12 playoff games. As a 20-year-old in 2018-19, Tardif led the Lumberjacks in scoring and finished sixth overall in the MHL with 31 goals and 37 assists in playing all 50 games. His goal total was the fourth most in the league and he finished 10th in assists. In the Canadian Tire Cup Playoffs, he’d tally seven goals and eight assists for the second-most points on the team behind Grant and Logan O’Neil. Tardif was named the Gongshow 2nd Star of the Month in November and 1st Star for February/March.