Crooks embraces offensive role
Fifth-year sniper helping Golden Bears set the pace in Canada West hockey
Jamie Crooks has been a big part of the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey program, but he’s never been a player who gets recognized often for the team’s success.
Crooks always just quietly goes about his business, yet he proves time and time again just how valuable he is to the Bears program. Especially this year.
The Bears have a strong group of first- and second-year players leading the charge offensively while Crooks continues to do what he does best. Score goals.
For the second straight year, he’s the team’s most prolific trigger man, but he’s also matured into one of the team’s biggest leaders.
“He’s not somebody that seeks attention or seeks the spotlight,” Golden Bears head coach Serge Lajoie said. “He quietly goes about his business. He’s intense in a different way, he takes a lot of responsibility of being a leader on this team, but he does it in a very quiet and discreet way.
“He’s a sharpshooter. That’s his role, he embraces it, and he puts a lot of pressure on himself to be our go-to guy from a goal-scoring standpoint.”
Heading into a home-and-home series against the visiting Calgary Dinos, Crooks is leading the Bears with 12 goals in 18 games.
As the only fifth-year Golden Bear on the roster, his leadership has been integral in helping bring along rookie forwards like Brandon Magee and Steve Owre. He also helps with the continued progression of second-year forwards Trevor Cox, Luke Philp, Cole Sanford and Tyson Baillie, who are all taking big steps forward offensively — especially Philp and Cox, who have 25 and 21 points respectively to lead the Golden Bears.
“He’s a guy we know we can always count on late in a game. It’s like his heartbeat never goes above 65, but that’s a strength of his,” Lajoie said. “He never seems to let the moment get the better of him. He always likes to be in the moment.
“Guys look up to him. If things get a little hairy, they look to Crooky and he brings everybody to an even keel.”
Crooks has always been a proven goal-scorer. In his final two years combined in the Western Hockey League he scored 70 goals (37 and 33 goals, respectively) with the Victoria Royals.
He has scored 59 goals as a member of the Golden Bears and has always had a knack for scoring at crucial times.
Last year in Game 3 of the Canada West Final against the Saskatchewan Huskies, Crooks scored a hat trick to help the Bears capture the Canada West championship.
“My biggest strength is shooting the puck, and when I have the puck on my stick, I’m always looking to shoot,” Crooks said. “I know that’s my way of contributing to helping the team win. I have to be a goalscorer.”
Entering against the Dinos, the Bears were 15-2-1 and in top spot in the Canada West conference and ranked No. 2 in the country.
The Bears have their sights set on a sixth-straight national championship appearance this March in Fredericton.
You can bet when the games become even more important down the stretch, Crooks will be at his best.
He will be front and centre helping the young core of Bears take the next step toward another national championship after getting knocked out of the tournament early the past two years.
“I’m glad Crooky is here, because he’s been through a lot within this program. He’s learned a lot from the previous veterans and he’s passing on his experiences to our younger guys,” Lajoie said. “We have a really young group and we’ve really had to rely on his experience.
“We’re still learning and growing and learning to be successful and Crooky’s played a key role in our growth as a program.”