Brock Ouellet
Men’s Hockey
The men’s hockey team couldn’t complete their comeback last Friday against the Ottawa Gee-Gees until Gaels forward Brock Ouellet skated to centre-ice to take his shot in the eighth-round of a shootout. The previous Ottawa shooter missed, so the team could close it out on a goal from Ouellet. Gliding through the choppy, worn-out ice he approached the net, deked and dumped the puck in the back of the Ottawa goal to set off a Gaels celebration at the Memorial Centre. The next day against Concordia, Ouellet had a goal and two assists to finish off the weekend with four points.
With the loss of some of the team’s top forwards, Ouellet has emerged as a major contributor for the Gaels. He said that his line with Scott Kenway and Jonathon Lawrance is meshing well.
“We know that when our top guys are out we need to elevate our games to the next level,” he said. “We’ve had some good chemistry so far and we just need to keep it going.”
Ouellet began playing hockey at the age of four, encouraged by his father. He began his ascension up the leagues with Triple A and five years in juniors, starting with his hometown team the Lindsay Muskies. Ouellet moved to the Stouffville Spirit for two years and finally the Cumberland Grads before being recruited to Queen’s.
Outside of athletics Ouellet is in his third year of history here at Queen’s. Though he is unsure of what his career plans are so far, he said it will be hard to get away from hockey.
“Down the road, I’m going to try to actively pursue getting into coaching,” he said. “Being a part of hockey for so long, [I] kind of have that drive to continue with it and contribute to the game.”
—Lauri Kytömaa
Gemma Bullard
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball season began last weekend, opening their season against the Laurier Golden Hawks and the Waterloo Warriors at the ARC. Finishing the weekend 1-1, Gaels rookie wing Gemma Bullard said the team needs to push for the full four quarters to get winning results.
“We played okay,” she said. “I think we could have played a lot better then what we did. We had moments where we were really good and moments where we were really awful. Consistency will come hopefully.”
Bullard followed her brother into basketball when she was seven and soon moved onto the Ontario Basketball Association, a league that is comparable to junior hockey with road trips, weekly practises and championship games.
Her busy schedule which consists of school, basketball practises and games has had drawbacks. The chemical-engineering student said she has little time for the social aspects of being a frosh.
“I just miss out on the new university experiences to be honest,” she said. “I go to class, go to basketball, do homework, go to sleep. I don’t even know everyone on my floor yet.”
The Gaels are coming out of a losing preseason which saw them play tournaments in Newfoundland and Quebec. Coming home to the ARC proved much better for the Gaels who went 2-1 in the Tindall Tournament. Bullard, in her second regular season game with the Gaels, scored 21 points against the Warriors in her 17 minutes of play time.
Bullard said she’s still adapting to her busy schedule as the basketball season gears up.
“It’s really different than what I’m used to,” she said. “With the time that you put in, a lot of learning new concepts, it’s pretty hard to stay focused after a full day of school and then going to practise and learning more stuff. It’s pretty exhausting on your body and mind. [But] I like the challenge.”
— Kate Bascom
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