Bidgood back, Oletic enters as Lincs toughen forward group

Cohen Bidgood was added to the St. Marys Lincolns’ lineup after a pair of moves late last week.

By Spencer Seymour

The St. Marys Lincolns just got a lot harder to play against.

General manager Pat Powers finalized a pair of transactions on Nov. 22 and 23 that saw the OHL’s London Knights return forward Cohen Bidgood to the Lincolns. St. Marys then added hulking forward Tyler Oletic from the OJHL’s Haliburton County Huskies.

Bidgood, who turns 18 years old in January, was acquired by St. Marys midway through last season and scored 12 goals and 27 points in 33 games with the Lincolns. The Peterborough native added seven goals and 15 points in 24 playoff games to help the Lincs win the Western Conference Championship and advance to the Sutherland Cup Final.

According to Powers, Bidgood’s return is a huge boost to the team’s offence.

“Cohen is a great teammate and competitor who not only adds scoring touch to our forward group, but he makes us a much harder team to play against,” Powers told the Independent. “Getting him back balances out our lineup really well.”

Bidgood also rejoins the Lincolns’ lineup with an easy transition given his familiarity with head coach Jeff Bradley, who called the reacquisition of the gritty winger “fantastic.”

“We know exactly what Cohen is and many other teams probably dislike him because of how hard he is to play against,” Bradley said. “Cohen only cares about his team. He doesn't care about his physical wellbeing. He cares about doing what's best for his team and the guys certainly are certainly very excited to have him back.”

Just 24 hours later, the Lincolns completed another roster move which saw them acquire Oletic. The six-foot-three, 205-pound forward native of Toronto played 13 games with the Huskies this year and had two goals and one assist. Last season, Oletic posted five goals and 10 points in 44 games with the OJHL’s Aurora Tigers.

“Tyler adds a huge body and a physical presence along with some sneaky offensive skill,” said Powers. “I think Tyler will be a fan favourite with his north-south style of play and his willingness to play a physical brand of hockey.”

Powers explained how he expects the additions to help the Lincolns in the incredibly deep western conference.

“Our conference is full of really strong teams that play playoff-style hockey, and those games require that kind of presence to overcome, and these two help with that. These two moves give us significantly more forward depth, which we lacked a bit on our playoff push last year.”