NEWS

Trenton Golden Hawks defenceman Braden Hellems (photo credit - Tim Bates/OJHL Images) has confirmed his commitment to join the Adrian College Bulldogs beginning with the 2015-16 NCHA season.

Born on July 22, 1994, Braden Hellems was raised in St. Thomas, Ontario and grew-up playing minor hockey in his hometown.  One of those success stories that goes to show it’s never too late, Hellems played his minor midget season in 2009/10 with the local St. Thomas Stars A/E team, graduating to the Stars Major Midget ‘A’ squad in 2010/11, where he notched 11 goals and 27 points in 55 games played.

Attending the local St. Thomas Stars Junior ‘B’ Prospect Camp that summer, Hellems would impress the club’s staff and sign-on for his rookie season at age 17.  Hellems would play junior hockey in his hometown for three seasons from 2011-14, steadily becoming not only one of the Stars’ best defencemen, but also one of the best in the entire GOJHL.

He would more than double his offensive output from year one to two, going from 3 goals and 12 points to 6 goals and 26 points, earning a spot on Team White at the 2012 GOJHL Prospects Game held in Kitchener, Ontario, where he helped his team to an 8-1 victory.

The 2013-14 season saw Hellems take on a leadership role with the Stars as an alternate captain.  Always one to be involved in the community, spending parts of his summer working with the local Police Services, the talented blueliner led the Stars rearguards in scoring with 11 goals and 31 points in 47 regular season games played.  Once again he would represent his team, this time at the 2013 GOJHL All-Star Game in Port Colborne, Ontario, where he recorded one assist for Team Ludzik during a 10-4 loss to Team Vaive.  He would finish the season strong and was rewarded for his hard work by being named the Western Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month for February.

Signing with the Golden Hawks during the summer of 2014, the “coachable” defender adjusted well to his new surroundings and after recording 17 points in 11 October contests early in the season, he was named the OJHL's Gongshow Gear North-East Conference Player-of-the-Month.  Not only one of the top offensive defencemen on the Golden Hawks, Hellems also finished tied for second in scoring among all OJHL rearguards with 50 points in 53 regular season contests.  His play throughout the season earned a spot on Team OJHL Nieuwendyk that finished as runner-up at the 2014 Central Canada Cup All-Star Challenge that was held in Toronto, Ontario.  Following the season after helping Trenton finish as runner-up for the overall OJHL title, Hellems would be named a 2nd Team All-Star, while also being voted a 2nd Team All-Fan Favourite by the fans.

Congratulations to Braden and best of luck in his NCAA career!