Oshawa, Ont. – The Ontario Tech Ridgebacks 2019-20 recruiting class continues to grow, as the men's hockey team welcomes Cody Grant (Fall River, N.S.) and Nicolas Tardif (Chelsea, Que.) from the South Shore Lumberjacks.

Both players have spent the last two seasons together with the South Shore Lumberjacks of the Maritime Hockey League (MHL), qualifying for the playoffs in both seasons.

Grant is a Saint John Sea Dogs draft choice and spent his first season in the MHL with the St. Stephen County Aces. As a rookie in the league Grant scored 11 points (6 G, 5 A) through 42 games, before joining the Lumberjacks.

"Cody is a great person on and off the ice," Lumberjacks coach and general manager Kyle McAllister said of his departing captain. "He spends countless hours in the community serving as a role model. On the ice he plays a big heavy game below the dots and scored some big timely goals for us. He served exceptionally as our captain and is the type of person and player that is hard to replace."

The Ridgebacks are not just adding the Lumberjacks captain, but also the leading scorer in Tardif.

"Nicolas is one of those players that simply does all the little things well," said Ridgebacks head coach Curtis Hodgins. "He plays a smart and complete game and really exploded offensively for the Lumberjacks this season and carried that into the playoffs. I believe he will be a great addition to our program who will do a little bit of everything for our team."

Along with leading the Lumberjacks in scoring, Tardif also eclipsed the 30-goal mark (31), as he posted 68 points in 50 games this past season. During his two seasons in the MHL, Tardif has produced 91 points (42 G, 49 A) throughout 98 games. He did not slow down during the playoffs, as he remained a near point-per-game player, accumulating 22 points (10 G, 12 A) over 25 games.

Meanwhile through 135 games with the Lumberjacks, Grant has compiled 101 points (48 G, 53 A), and capped his junior career off with 42 points this past season. As the captain of the Lumberjacks, Grant helped lead the team to back-to-back postseason appearances, where he continued to produce with 19 points (8 G, 11 A) in 25 games played.

"Cody is a big strong power forward who skates well. I really like his potential for U SPORTS hockey as he also has a real good skill set to go along with the size and toughness he will bring to our forward group," said Hodgins. "From all accounts, Cody was a tremendous captain for South Shore during his last two years of junior hockey."

Lumberjacks head coach and general manager Kyle McAllister also added about Tardif, "Nicolas is a two-way hockey player that plays with a ton of grit. He is the definition of lead by example. He comes to the rink everyday with full work ethic and continues to get better everyday. It's been a pleasure watching him grow as a player and be rewarded for doing things the right way day in and day out."

With the addition of Tardif and Grant, the Ridgebacks men's hockey 2019-20 recruit class increases to four players, along with Sean Ross and Tyson McConnell.

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