By Ben Shanahan

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

Six-foot-2, 203-pound Bowling Green State University freshman forward Brody Waters, 21-years old, was born in Heidelberg, Ontario, Canada, to a hockey family that got him into the sport at a young age.

“My dad always played, and my brothers played as well. I would say my brothers are probably my biggest influence in the game,” said Waters.

At age 16, Waters started becoming an offensive threat, averaging more than a point per game in the U16 South-Central Triple A Hockey League for the Guelph Jr. Gryphon, with a stat line of 35 games played, 17 goals, and 32 assists (49 points).

After that, Waters moved on to the junior hockey level, playing two seasons for the Elmira Sugar Kings of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, where in two seasons he once again averaged a point per game.

In his first season at Elmira, 21 games were played for 24 points, and in his second season, 46 games were played for 47 points.

In his final stop before joining the Falcons, Waters joined the Nanaimo Clippers of the British Columbia Hockey League. He played three seasons with his eyes set on playing college hockey.

“My whole junior career was aimed at playing college hockey, and last year I was fortunate enough to get an offer from Bowling Green, so I was very excited when that happened,” said Waters.

Waters got that offer in his final season in the BCHL, where his offensive numbers exploded once again with 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 51 games. He caught the eye of now-BGSU assistant coach Stavros Paskaris at the BCHL showcase.

“I knew about Bowling Green because I grew up playing against Brayden Kireger. I ran into coach Stavros at the showcase last year,” Waters said.

“I knew him from prior years. We talked there and really liked everything about Bowling Green, the coaches, and the culture that ultimately brought me here.”

From Coach Stavros, who had been recruiting Waters since he was 16 while Stavros was working as an assistant at Princeton, it was a no-brainer to keep recruiting him when the coach came to BGSU. Waters was too good on and off the ice to not keep recruiting him.

“As a player, I’ve always liked his brain and stick,” Stavros said. “It was just a matter of whether the physical maturity would come to take his game to another level.

“It probably took longer than he would have liked, but eventually his patience and persistence paid off.

“As a human, you knew you were getting a great kid who comes from a great family. He has this quiet confidence about himself that makes you believe whatever goals he sets, he will achieve. Rob and Dana get all the credit there.”

Now at Bowling Green, Waters meshed well on the ice on the first line with junior Ryan O’Hara and transfer fifth-year player Josh Noddler, but also off the ice with the rest of his teammates. BGSU has become his second hockey family.

“It is awesome — the school and the living situation are awesome here,” Waters said. “To get the chance to play alongside really good players like Ryan O’Hara and Josh Noddler is awesome.”

On November 27, Waters was named Central Collegiate Hockey Association Newcomer of the Week with two goals against Northern Michigan. He is currently second in team points with 11 points (six goals, five assists).

“Brody has done a really good job,” Eigner said. “He is someone who was not handed anything.

“We did not start Brody on a line with Noddler, and O’Hara Brody worked his way up to that. He is consistent in practice, and his effort on a day-to-day basis has been really, really good.

“He is a big, strong kid who got engaged physically this weekend. When he gets chances in and around the net, he has really good hands.

“He is sneaky down there, really happy to see him recognized by the CCHA, and I do not see that being the last time he gets an award like that,” added Eigner.