Power forward Astill joins Clan from Maritime Jr A League's Lumberjacks

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Simon Fraser University is pleased to announce a commitment from South Shore Lumberjacks forward McKullen Astill to join the Clan for the 2019/20 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season.

The six-foot-tall forward is well-travelled, having started his junior career in Norway with the Stavanger Oilers U18 and U20 teams from 2014 to 2017. He returned to Canada for the 2017/18 to play Junior A with stops playing for the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL and the Humboldt Broncos of the SJHL.

He then joined the Lumberjacks of the Maritime Junior Hockey League and was nearly a point-per-game player, putting up 46 points (19 goals, 27 assists) in 50 games during the 2018/29 season.

"McKullen is a big body who skates just as good as anybody in our league, shoots the puck well, and definitely somebody who can score," says SFU head coach Mark Coletta. "We need some size up front, we’re not the biggest team upfront or the heaviest team upfront, so I think he adds a little bit of that."

“I’d say I’m skilled, fast and I’ve got decent size," says Astill. "I put on a bit of weight this summer, so I think that’ll help me out. I like to play both ends of the rink, but I also like to chip in offensively when I can."

Astill will study Economics at SFU and wants to play pro hockey in Norwayafter graduation.

"That’s always been a goal of mine, so I want to go somewhere I’m going to be able to play and have an opportunity to prove myself,” he explains. "I thought this was going to be the best fit for me — not only hockey-wise, but in terms of academics, SFU’s a really good school."

Astill is the 15th commitment for the 2019/20 season following forwards Ty Westgard (Coquitlam, BCHL), Christian Bosa (Nipawin, SJHL), Trevor Ayre (Langley, BCHL), Takato Cox (Connecticut Jr. Rangers, NCDC), Daniel Rubin (Delta, PJHL) and Justin Lee (North Van, PJHL) as well as defencemen Jordan Dawson (Nanaimo, BCHL), Colten Gerlib (Nipawin, SJHL), Matt Krawiec (Red Lake, SIJHL), Jake Keremidschieff (Richmond, PJHL), Adamu Tanaka (Calgary, AJHL) and Matt Brown (Richmond, PJHL), and goaltenders Andrew Henderson (Yorkton, SJHL) and Patrick Zubick (Selkirk College (BCIHL).

SFU takes on TWU and UBC for the 2019 Captain’s Cup in September prior to kicking off the 2019/20 BCIHL season in October.