For home games during the 2017-18 season, the Carleton Place Canadians will be profiling one player from the team. This time, the profile is on Aidan Girduckis.
Quick Bio
Birthdate: Oct. 8, 1998
Hometown: Belleville, Ont.
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 190 lbs
Shoots: R
Position: D
After a season with the Wellington Dukes of the OJHL, Girduckis is in his second season with the Carleton Place Canadians.
He spent his minor midget season playing for the Clarington Toros AAA before making the jump to junior hockey as a 16-year-old as he joined the Napanee Raiders of the Empire B Junior C Hockey League, where had more than a point per game from the blue-line
“Playing against older players than the midget level, wasn’t the same calibre but it was still playing against older guys and it helped me prepare for the strength and speed of the next level,” Girduckis said.
Even with the experience in Jr. C to help him get used to the size of the players, Girduckis said there was still another adjustment he had to make coming to the CCHL last season.
“It was a lot faster than the Jr. C I played before, there’s a lot of hard hitting in our league,” he said, “but it was a fun year.”
Part of his first year in Carleton Place was spent representing his country at the World Jr. A Challenge as part of Team Canada East, alongside fellow team-mates Tim Theocharidis, Connor Hill and former team-mate Owen Grant, as well as head coach Jason Clarke.
“It was a great time, it was an unbelievable experience being able to represent your country. Especially with the coach like ‘Clarkie’, knowing the systems that he has, it was easy to go there and do the same systems there and style of play,” he said.
Heading into this season said his goals were more team-oriented, looking to win the Fred Page Cup and the RBC Cup.
“I think we’ve got the team to do it this year, we’re a tight-knit group already and it should be a good year,” Girduckis added.
Last season, Girduckis scored 11 goals and added 15 assists for 26 points in 56 games and earned himself an offer to attend Robert Morris University for the 2018-19 season. In the team’s first 20 games played, he has three goals and nine assists for 12 points so far.
