Freshman defenseman Brody Toigo comes from a hockey family, which isn’t unusual for a British Columbia, Canada, native.

What is unusual is that Toigo’s one year of high school football at South Delta Senior Secondary school almost kept Toigo off the ice.

Despite playing hockey since age five, Toigo made best friend Derek Mann look really good as quarterback. Mann was able to convince Toigo to play football in his senior year at South Delta and Toigo responded by being second in the province in receiving yards.

“He’s tall, he had great leaping ability to go along with some speed and great hands,” Mann said. “He’s a great athlete; picked it up real quick. We’re the only province in Canada that plays football with American rules and he just excelled at it.”

After his one year of high school football, Toigo and a couple friends decided to take some time off and travel. They took trips to Australia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The trips gave Toigo a new perspective, especially in Indonesia.

“Going to Indonesia is the biggest eye opener ever, just to see where these people live. You drive through these places with like straw roofs and just mud walls and all this National Geographic stuff,” Toigo said.

When he got back, he tried a year of Canadian football before deciding it wasn’t for him and set his sights on hockey. The Cyclones are glad he did, as he has at least one goal in five of the last six consecutive Cyclone victories.

Toigo chose hockey mainly because of the camaraderie that comes with it.

“I like the speed and just everything about it,” Toigo said. “I think there is more respect in hockey than in any other sport. It’s a really great experience just being in a locker room with a bunch of guys and getting to know each other so well. I think that’s the best part about hockey.”

Despite switching from the offensive side of the football to mainly the defensive side of the puck, Toigo feels that football has helped him read opponents better out on the ice. As a defenseman, Toigo has to read the play as it’s coming at him and make adjustments, like he had to do in football, watching everything unfold in front of him.

One thing Toigo does need to work on is staying out of the penalty box. He is leading the team in penalty minutes and says he has struggled with crosschecking calls throughout the season.

“I need to fix that by being tougher mentally,” Toigo said, “I have to learn that when someone hits me, to not retaliate and punch them in the face but just to take it and keep playing hard.”

Despite those flaws, head coach Al Murdoch still has high praises for Toigo.

“He’s playing really well and he’s a real good student. He does not back off from the contact side of the game, he plays with great enthusiasm; we look forward to four great years here. He’s going to get a good degree in business and he’s one of the guys that after four years could have a chance to play professionally,” Murdoch said.

Murdoch also talked about how he plays with great passion and is playing with a line that loves playing together.

Junior defenseman Adam Mueller, Toigo’s defensive partner, is impressed by how quickly the freshman has caught on and enjoys playing with him.

“It’s always fun,” Mueller said. “He caught on real quick, he’s got a great shot; I look forward to finding him open and getting him the puck. I’m pretty confident that he can take care of it from there.”

Mueller says it is a really big asset for the team that Toigo has learned so much so quickly in his freshman season and is making a big impact on the defensive and offensive side of the puck.

“You don’t really expect a freshman to come in and do that and when they do, it really helps out the team, especially from a defensive standpoint,” Mueller said.

Mueller likes the fact that Toigo acts like an older guy on the team, That allows the team to instill more confidence in him and run harder plays with him out there knowing that he will be able to handle it.

Junior Brad Krueger, who plays forward on the same line as Toigo, agrees that he is an important asset to the team.

“Not only is he a great player, he’s a great guy on and off the ice. He’s big and he’s got a hard shot. I feel comfortable when he winds up because there’s a good chance it’s going in. Hopefully he can keep riding the way he’s been playing lately because we need him; having a freshman step up and fill that role is huge for us,” Krueger said.

Krueger also said Toigo helps him improve his own game when he passes the puck.

“Usually I’m lucky enough to pass it to him,” Krueger said. “He gets some goals and I get the assist; he definitely makes my job a lot easier.”