New Tecumseth Civics goaltender TJ Sherwood made his on ice debut last weekend in the ECHL playing for the Brampton Beast on the road against the Kalamazoo Wings in Michigan.

The 5’10 Sherwood was signed as an EBug (Emergency Back-Up Goalie) earlier this season for the Adirondack Thunder but has been practicing with the Brampton Beast over the course of the past few months.

Sherwood received the invite to join Brampton on the road to Kalamazoo when Brampton Beast Head Coach Colin Chaulk sent TJ a message asking if he would be available to join the team to back up the night before the Wings game.

Sherwood joined the Beast (and was tied for the youngest player on the roster) and when Beast starting goalie Daniel Spence got injured halfway through the second period it was time for Sherwood to make his professional debut. Sherwood played 29:30 of the game and made 12 saves on 15 shots including an amazing glove save and a breakaway stop.

Sherwood, the Barrie native, happy to have gotten his first taste of professional hockey but looks towards the future as a he knows it is full of possibilities, “It was a good experience for me to get some pro experience under my belt and playing in front of 2500 fans was a cool experience itself. I’m looking forward to what the future holds for me and will continue with the hard work.”

Prior to his ECHL debut he Civics leaned heavily on Sherwood during the season and he was able to produce, giving them a shot to win more often than not when he was in between the pipes. The goaltender was at or near the top of the rankings for almost every goalie related statistically category in the North Division including Save Percentage (.918, 1st), Goals Against Average (3.29, 2nd), Saves (813, 6th), and Wins (14, 4th) on route to his second straight Goalie of the Year Award, A Runner Up Finish in the MVP Race and was named first star in both of the playoff games he started in his last year of junior hockey.

Civics Assistant GM and Goalie Specialist Jordan Richardson (JR) was proud of TJ and expects this is only the beginning for the talented netminder, “When TJ told me he was reached out to by the Beast to back up in Kalamazoo, this being the second time he’s been called to do so, I knew that people around the league had taken notice of TJ and that makes me extremely happy. Having seen footage from that game and listened to TJ talk about it he played extremely well in his debut and we have some things that we are going to work on while we train that hopefully helps propel TJ into being even more of a well-rounded goalie than he already is and help him continue to get opportunities at the pro level.”  

All of us in New Tecumseth are excited to see all the opportunities coming your way TJ, you have absolutely earned them in our eyes after the spectacular hockey we got to see you play in the area over the past 4 seasons. If what we have seen is any indication than the sky is the limit for you Mr. Sherwood. Congratulations.

Author: Jordan Richardson, Assistant GM