General News » Headline News » News

Hornets defenceman Mitch Livingston finish six seasons in Alliston

April 3, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

He’s not easy to miss on the ice.

Alliston Hornets defenceman, #17, Mitch Livingston, stands 6’4” in his shoes. When he put on the skates and added another three inches, he was a powerful presence in the Hornets’ line-up.

Mitch just completed his final season as a Junior player after spending his entire career – six seasons – with the Hornets.

Over those six seasons he played 201 games and totaled 170 in the points column.

“I was a 16-year-old rookie as a junior,” Mitch said of starting with the team during the 2014/15 season. “I was playing AAA in Barrie. I knew a bunch of guys that played there. I was drafted to North Bay that year so I knew I needed to get some junior experience to better prepare myself for trying to make the OHL so I decided that Alliston was local, it was close. I knew they were a very competitive team. That was the main thing.”

Mitch has played defence for most of his hockey career except for a couple of seasons when he first started playing.

“I was a good skater and moved the puck well and knew how to make good passes and get it out of the zone quickly, and also I’m a strong backwards skater. I found defending was more natural than attacking so I decided playing defence was for me,” he said of how he found his ideal position.

Of the six years he played on the squad, he said the one season that stands out was the playoffs of 2017 is when they faced the Stayner Siskins for the League championship.

“We had a good team that year,” he said. “We had really strong OHL or Junior A players that came down and played for us and that year we had a big competition going with Stayner and we swept them in the final. There was a big controversy of whether we could beat them or not. That year stood out the most for me. I was right in the middle age, I wasn’t the oldest guy or youngest guy on the team. I felt that year was outstanding.”

Even though his final year on the team ended abruptly with the season being cancelled suddenly, Mitch said he was glad the team went out with a win. The Hornets were again playing Stayner for the North Conference championship when it was announced the season was being cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“It was after the second and we were up a goal on Stayner when they came in and told us this was going to be our last game. Obviously, we didn’t get to experience the best part of hockey – the playoffs, but I’m happy we went out on a winning note.”

The Hornets won the final game of the season 7 – 4.

Getting ready to go into his fourth year in finance at the University of Guelph, Mitch said he plans on concentrating on his studies this year.

However, he plans to continue in hockey and is keeping his option open.

“I want to keep my hockey career going whether that’s going into a senior league or coaching.”

Readers Comments (0)