Ottawa, Ontario – On November 8th 2019, goaltender William McEvoy won the Goalie of the Month award announce by CCHL Tier 2. During October, McEvoy was 4-1 posting a 1.77 GAA / .933 SV% to go along with 2 shutouts.
The Golden Knights netminder made 30 saves for his first career CCHL2 shutout on October 10th against the Brockville Tikis. His second shutout came against Athens on Halloween night (Oct 31st) and made 18 saves.
“I was very honored to receive that award. I think that the team is really playing well right in front of me, they’re also playing very well defensively and capitalizing offensively,” said McEvoy on his goalie of the month award.
This is McEvoy’s first year in CCHL Tier 2. Back in August, he was trying out for the Brockville Braves in CCHL Tier 1 and played only one game on August 28th. He made 19 saves of 20 shots in 30 minutes of play against Cornwall. The first time that Head Coach Steve Sundin knew about McEvoy was through Stephen Corrigan and his scouts.
“I knew about Will. Stephen Corrigan mentioned to me how good he was and then my scouts Bob Ward and Spencer Asch-Jone (Assistant Coach) along with a few others that seen him play. They told me that he was really good. I talked to McEvoy’s dad in the summer and I said if he doesn’t have a spot in Brockville, McEvoy would have a spot with us.”
Sundin also mentioned that he was glad to make that commitment to William McEvoy. He has been superb to start the season. I think both goaltenders that we have are 1A and 1B.
McEvoy started his minor hockey career with the Ottawa Sting for one year in minor Adam, he then transferred over to the Rideau St. Lawrence Kings to play with them for two years. Made his return with the Ottawa Sting in 2014-15 after being cut from the Ottawa Jr. 67s minor Bantam AAA in tryouts.
He finally started his Bantam Career in minor Bantam AAA with the Ottawa Jr. 67s in the 2015-16 season where he posted a 2.26 GAA in 15 games in the regular season. The next year, he moved up to Bantam AAA with the Ottawa Jr. 67s and was even better posting a 1.88 GAA in 16 games, He also split the duties in net with William Nguyen who plays with the Embrun Panthers.
He won a championship with them in the 2016-17 season. After his success in Bantam AAA, he was drafted to a new expansion team, the Rockland Nationals, where he posted really good numbers in the regular season. He had a 18-1-2 record, to go along with a 1.25 GAA and .936 SV%. He was also first in HEO Midget AAA with 9 shutouts in the 2017-18 season.
“I think I did well. It was hard that year in different ways that you expect because there were some games that I would be facing 15 shots and other games I would face 35 or 40 shots. I didn’t know what to expect going to each and every game. I knew it was a test,” said McEvoy.
Another player who played on the Rockland Nationals U18 that year was current Ottawa West Golden Knights forward Ryan Carroll.
“I think he did very well that year. Ryan has fantastic vision and unreal hockey sense. Great skater as well, one of the fastest guys in the league. So his ability to see the ice and see guys around as well as generate speed. He was unbelievable,” said McEvoy.
Carroll collected 16 goals, 23 assists and 39 points in one of his best seasons. Rockland won the championship that year by defeating Hawkesbury in two games of a three game series. Rockland hosted the Central Regional championships. Went 5-0-0 in the Round Robin, but loss in the semi-finals to the Toronto Young Nationals who went on to the Telus Cup. McEvoy had the opportunity to play in front of the Rockland fans during the tournament.
“It was very nice. We had a lot of the Junior A players to come out and support us. Lots of the Rockland community was able to come out and show support for our team.”
After the season was over, McEvoy made the decision in the off season to go play for Stanstead College in the MPHL last year.
“I was just looking for a place to play that would really progress me. It would give me progression throughout my hockey career and I felt that going to prep school would be the best route for that. It help me a lot. I give credit to Dan Poliziani and Matt Thompson (Coaches for Stanstead College) for helping me, it was a great year for my development.
During the 2018-19 CCHL season, McEvoy was traded from the Rockland Nationals to the Brockville Braves in exchanged for ’99 Forward Nicholas Wildgoose. McEvoy went to training camp with the Brockville Braves for a possible spot for their CCHL Tier 1 team.
He felt that he played well in their training camp but McEvoy mentioned that things didn’t work out. He decided to play with the Ottawa West Golden Knights for the year. All because of one thing.
“Basically location, Ottawa West is really close to my house. I’ve heard great things about Steve Sundin and this organization,” said McEvoy.
McEvoy has also learned from Goalie Coach Miguel Daoust who used to play with Clarence Beavers in 2016-17 and with the Golden Knights last year.
“He is very good, I like Miguel. He provides a very good insight as to what he did last year. Playing to my game and has also given out certain tips and tricks to use when he was playing,” said McEvoy.
McEvoy’s goal is to move up to the CCHL Tier 1 level next year. This season, he wants to win a championship and to win every game.
Here is the Interview with William McEvoy from last week:
