GUELPH, Ont. – The puck will soon drop on the 2022-23 university men's hockey regular season. And what better way to prepare for the upcoming season than by spending a week at an NHL rookie camp.
Luke Bignell, a 21-year-old second-year forward on the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team, recently returned to Guelph after having taken part in rookie camp with the NHL's New Jersey Devils.
Bignell was one of just three current U SPORTS men's hockey players from across the country to earn an invite to NHL rookie camp this season, with StFX forward, Liam Hawel (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Windsor Lancers forward, John Parker-Jones (Montreal Canadiens) the only other U SPORTS players to get a taste of NHL rookie camp this year.
For Bignell, a Kitchener native who played three seasons of OHL hockey with the Barrie Colts prior to arriving at the University of Guelph, the opportunity to put on the New Jersey Devils uniform was a memorable one. "I was ecstatic to get the phone call and have the opportunity to showcase my growth as a hockey player," says Bignell, who flew to New Jersey on Tuesday, September 13 and spent a week practicing and competing alongside other New Jersey Devils draft picks and free agents. "I feel like I missed out on the opportunity to really showcase my growth as a player during my last year in the OHL, with COVID cancelling what would have been my overage year. That was definitely a setback. But getting the opportunity to go to New Jersey was great."
After on-ice practices with the Devils at the Prudential Center, Bignell boarded a bus alongside the other New Jersey Devils prospects and free agents and made the trip to Buffalo to take part in a three-team "Prospects Challenge" with the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins.
The preseason games were played at the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, with Bignell in the lineup on Saturday, September 17 against the Sabres as well as Monday, September 19 versus the Bruins. By Tuesday, September 20, Bignell was back in Guelph and in the Gryphon lineup for the team's preseason opener on Friday, September 23 against Brock.
"I felt like I learned a lot from being around that group of players, in terms of how they prepare, take care of themselves and just the focus they bring to the rink each day to be successful," adds Bignell, who is currently studying criminal justice and public policy in his second year at the University of Guelph. "Those are some things I will try to bring back with me to Guelph to try to make myself better."
It was a limited sample size for Gryphon hockey fans during Bignell's rookie campaign at the University of Guelph, but the 6'1", 185-pound forward impressed in his 14 games played, chipping in with 3 goals and 3 assists while contributing to the Gryphons penalty kill and power play units while regularly displaying one of the top work ethics on the team.
Bignell was rewarded for his hard work as a freshman,
earning a spot on the OUA All-Rookie Team. Prior to his days as a Gryphon, Bignell served as Captain of the Barrie Colts during the 2019-20 season, scoring 14 goals to go along with 23 assists in 54 games before having that season shutdown due to the pandemic, bringing his final season of OHL hockey to an abrupt end for him and his playoff-bound Barrie teammates. After a season off and with an impressive OHL career now behind him, Luke is committed to continuing his development while competing at the OUA level. "The OUA is a great league," says Bignell, who will turn 22-years-old in November. "You have a bunch of guys coming from different leagues, like the CHL, NCAA, as well as really good junior leagues here in Ontario, and we are all here battling and growing and trying to make each other better."
For Bignell, who grew up playing his minor hockey in Kitchener, the opportunity to wear a Barrie Colts jersey for three seasons was special. The chance to wear a New Jersey Devils uniform for a week was memorable. But wearing the Gryphon jersey and embracing the role of student-athlete at the University of Guelph is something that has quickly taken on some special meaning of its own for the Kitchener native. "The atmosphere around campus here at U of G is really cool on a day-to-day basis," adds Bignell.
"Just walking around campus and engaging myself in conversation with fellow students, it is a really great experience. You get to meet a lot of new people, and as a student-athlete, you can feel the support from your peers when they recognize that you are on a varsity team. You can see that they look up to you a little bit. So, it has been great so far being here at the University of Guelph and being a part of the Gryphon hockey team. There is no other place I would rather spend my next four years."
Bignell and the rest of the Gryphons men's hockey team will drop the puck on the 2022-23 OUA regular season on Friday, October 14 in London during a road game with the Western Mustangs. The team will continue their season preparations this weekend, when they travel to Hamilton, New York for an exhibition matchup with the Colgate Raiders (NCAA – DI) on Sunday, October 2. The Gryphons 2022-23 regular season will consist of 27 games in total, with the OUA playoffs beginning in mid-February. The Gryphons men's hockey program has been crowned OUA champions on seven occasions, with the most recent Queen's Cup title coming in 2019-20. Tickets are now on sale (
gryphons.ca/tickets) for all 14 of the Gryphons 2022-23 home games, including the home opener, scheduled for Saturday, October 15 at 7:30pm versus the Waterloo Warriors.
