Media releases

• Badgers hire former IceDogs coach as interim bench boss

  Wednesday, August 09, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 9 August 2017 – R00141

  The new coach of the Brock Badgers men’s hockey team will be a familiar name to many in Niagara.

  Marty Williamson has been named Brock’s interim head coach for men’s hockey for the 2017-18 season.

  Williamson served as coach and general manager of the Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara IceDogs for six seasons until May 2016, leading the team to six-straight playoff appearances and two OHL conference championships.

  “We’re fortunate to get a high-quality coach like Marty, who brings a wealth of experience and has had great success coaching in the OHL,” said Brock Sports Director Neil Lumsden, who made the coaching announcement Wednesday, Aug. 9.

  “With the season right around the corner, the players are excited and motivated to get going,” Lumsden said.

  Williamson, who lives in St. Catharines, said he’s looking forward to the new challenge.

  “It’s just as exciting as when I got my first job in the OHL. Coaching is coaching and that part of it I feel confident with, but this is a little bit of a different animal,” he said. “It has kind of come full circle. I coached minor hockey helping kids get to the OHL, then in the OHL for 12 years, and now I’ll be coaching guys who are at a different point in their career working on both academics and hockey.”

  After leading tryouts and training camp later this month, Williamson’s first test as head coach will come at the Steel Blade Classic, being played Sept. 15 at the Meridian Centre, where the coach spent countless hours behind the bench.

  “That’s a fantastic facility. It’ll be nice to look at the banners hanging there,” Williamson said. “The goal is to beat Guelph and the preparation starts as soon as we can get on the ice with the guys.”

  Beyond the pre-season, the coach is aiming for a successful season for the Badgers.

  “Giving yourself a chance to win every night is always the first goal. If you do that, everything kind of takes care of itself. Getting a group of guys who will pull in the same direction is what you’re looking for,” he said.

  Tickets for the Steel Blade hockey game are available online at www.steelbladeclassic.com. Prices are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. A limited number of free student tickets will be available from the Walker Sports Complex Welcome Desk in September.

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock prof says people have reason to be concerned over Niagara River discharge

  Friday, August 04, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 3 August 2017 – R00140

  In his four decades of studying water contamination, Ian Brindle has learned that when something doesn’t smell right, there’s likely more to the story.

  That’s why the Brock University Emeritus Professor of Chemistry isn’t buying the story of the Niagara Falls, N.Y. Water Board that a discharge from a wastewater treatment plant which turned part of the Niagara River black on the weekend was completely above board.

  “There’s a lot of stuff that goes through those treatment plants so it doesn’t strike me as being necessarily benign from a chemical standpoint,” says Brindle, a renowned researcher who has spent his career studying water contamination in Niagara and beyond. “They need to educate people. They can’t just do this and then seek an apology after the fact. It’s disgraceful.”

  The black water discharge surrounded the Maid of the Mist dock area on the American side of the Niagara River and was visible to the thousands of tourists in the Niagara Falls area on a busy summer weekend.

  This week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, as well as Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates have called for an investigation into what happened.

  Brindle says it brings back memories from 30 years ago when Atlas Steel in Welland dumped chemicals into the Welland River that turned the waterway orange.

  “That was an extremely visible and very concerning event that happened,” he says. “But there we knew what was going on because we knew where it was coming from. With a wastewater treatment plant, you don’t know what you’re dealing with.

  “To say there’s nothing to worry about, I’d like to see the documentation. They should be reporting some numbers instead of saying ‘everything is okay.’ I’ve heard that too many times before,” Brindle says.

  Prof. Ian Brindle is available for interviews about the issue.

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases