The Waterloo Warriors men’s hockey team kicked off their recruiting season in a big way by signing two OHL stars and Waterloo natives: Zach Lorentz and Mike Moffat.
Waterloo men’s hockey coach Brian Bourque said, “They grew up together … they’re both from Waterloo, which is something we look for when we’re recruiting, if we can get some guys from home, who have that connection.”
Both Moffat and Lorentz started off playing for the Waterloo Wolves Midgets (MHAO) and were drafted to the OHL in 2010.
Moffat comes to Waterloo from the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs.
“Mike also brings an offensive side to the team: he was the captain of Kingston last year and he brings a lot of leadership and that definitely attracted us to him, his offensive ability and we know he’s going to be a solid leader for us right off the bat,” Bourque said.
Moffat, who has played defence in the OHL since he signed with the London Knights in 2010, has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years. In his last regular season with Kingston he tallied six goals and 45 assists for 51 points, a huge increase compared to the previous season (four goals and 26 assists for 30 points).
“Zach brings an offensive skillset that I think could really help our team … and we’re hoping to bring that to our program,” Bourque said. Lorentz comes to the Warriors hockey program from the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers.
Lorentz, who plays centre, has played for a variety of teams over the past few years, starting with two years for the Kitchener Rangers before moving to Windsor, Peterborough, and finally Plymouth. His past year has shown even greater improvements: in the 2012/2013 regular season he scored six goals and had nine assists for a total of 15 points. In his most recent season (2013/2014) he ended with 27 goals and 27 assists for a total of 54 points.
“Their playing experience, and what they’ve done, and how they’ve worked over the last few years … it’s been impressive,” said Bourque. “I do know that they’re both hard-working … I think it’ll just improve the overall depth on our team.”
Moffat and Lorentz could not be reached for comment.
The Waterloo men’s hockey team, who were unable to make the playoffs last season, ending in ninth place, have high hopes for this upcoming season.
“I know we’ll be a team that plays hard … I think we have enough returning guys, and enough new recruits that we’ll be able to do well in our division,” Bourque said.
