Meet the Players
Meet the Players:
Brady Wiffen
St Marys, Ontario
The former St. Marys Lincolns’ centre and leading scorer, now 25, recently joined the Seaforth Centenaires. Many ask who the tall kid is.
For all players, time moves quickly. It’s hard to believe that it has
been almost 10 years now since Brady Wiffen wasa 16-year-old rookie with the Jr. ‘B’ Lincolns. His hockey journey lasted two seasons with the Lincs (2010-12), and then the talented Wiffen joined Trenton Golden Hawks of the Provincial Tier II Jr. ‘A’ League.
In his third and final season at Trenton, the big centreman produced 53 goals and 92 points in 52 OJHL games. He bloastered those numbers with 13 goals and 22 points in 16 playoff games. Wiffen’s strong season caught the attention of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (R.P.I.) hockey program.
Wiffen accepted the offer from R.P.I and the St. Marys native spent the next four years at R.P.I. on an NCAA Division 1 hockey scholarship.
“An awesome experience playing hockey at that level” said Wiffen describing his four years at R.P.I., playing NCAA hockey at its highest level and going to school.
“It was fun to travel around to the different colleges that you hear about,” he said. “We played in Notre Dame and that was special. It is such a storied university. But it’s a grind, playing Division one sports and going to school at the same time. It is a lot of hard work, time on the road and nose in the books.”
In addition to setting personal NCAA bests in his last season (8g, 13 pts.), Wiffen collected the R.P.I. Men's Hockey Team's Community Service Award and was named to the ECAC's "Commissioner's List" by posting a 4.0 G.P.A. In 98 NCAA games from 2016-19, "Wiff" posted 17 goals and 35 points.
In June, finished school, Wiffen reached out to some old coaches about opportunities. He called his old coach Seth Appert, who recruited him at R.P.I. “He told me he would call around, and I ended up talking to the head coach, Kirk MacDonald, at Reading. There was an R.P.I. connection there.” said Wiffen. MacDonald, coached the Reading Royals of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) and is a former R.P.I. player.
“I talked to Kirk and he told me they had lost a lot of forwards,” Wiffen said.
“I was listed as a centerman at RPI, but for the last half of last season I played on the wing. It’s easier for a centerman to play the wing, than it is for a winger to play centre in the defensive zone. He liked that versatile aspect of my game that I’d be comfortable playing centre or wing. I could play what was needed in each game.”
“Obviously, the college game is a little different hockey, and it was a real thrill to be offered a Pro contract by the Reading Royals. However, I was ready to make my way home again.” said Wiffen.
Wiffen, who is 6 ft., 3 inches and 205 lbs., had been busy getting in good shape this summer and prepared for any opportunity.
“I had been going at it pretty hard,” he said. “I have a program that I got from the strength coach at R.P.I.; he gave me a program for the summer. I had been going to the gym four or five times a week, doing weights. When I decided to pass on Reading and move back I felt very ready for the opportunity to play with in Seaforth.”
“So far I am really enjoying it. This is really great hockey, I am loving the guys on the team and I am enjoying everyone I have met in Seaforth. At this point, I really am happy to be here, playing hockey and hopefully make a good run at the playoffs.”