Geordie Wudrick

Geordie Wudrick (born 9 April 1990) is a Canadian ice hockey player who plays as an import left winger for the CBR Brave in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). Wudrick was drafted 88th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Club career

Junior career

Wudrick gained a wealth of experience in his junior hockey career at the Swift Current Broncos for three and a half years and Kelowna Rockets for a year and a half. ). Wudrick was the highest ever draft pick for the Swift when they selected him as the second overall draft pick in the WHL Bantam draft in 2005. Geordie went on to score 76 goals and 64 assists for the Broncos in his three and a half years at the club before the Swift decided to trade Wudrick in November 2009 to the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for Czech player Stepan Novotny and prospect Tanner Clark. Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton was happy to acquire a player of Geordie talent calling the young forward “a high-end player”. Wudrick played his best ever junior season in 2010-11 for the Rockets scoring a team high 43 goals and adding 16 assists for a total of 59 points.

Senior career

Wudrick attended three prospect camps with NHL sides Phoenix Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres however none of the three clubs picked him up for his first professional contract. Instead the young Wudrick chose to move to Europe to take up a one-year professional deal with DEL2 side Starbulls Rosenheim in Germany’s second division. Wudrick described the move to Germany as a perfect opportunity to build his professional hockey resume and experience a new culture and way of playing hockey.

After representing Rosenheim for 14 games for a return of 3 goals and 6 assists, Wudrick opted to return home to Canada in December 2011 and take up a hockey scholarship at the University of New Brunswick to play in the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) for the UNB Varsity Reds. At the time the Varsity reds were the reigning national champions and the number one ranked CIS team.

In 2012-13 Wudrick signed for his first North American senior team in the Chinook Hockey League (CHL) when he put pen to paper with the Bentley Generals. Although not getting very much ice time, 3 regular season and 2 post season matches, Wudrick was still part of the Generals squad that went on to host and win the 2013 Allan Cup as Senior AAA national champions with a 3-0 victory over Clarenville Caribous in the final.

22 January 2014, Wudrick transferred universities to the University of British Columbia and joined the UBC Thunderbirds with right games to go in the regular CIS season as the team chased a play-offs spot. Georgie had been with the team since September 2013 but had not been eligible to play for the Thunderbirds until he officially transferred. Wudrick played in all eight of the final regular season games and helped the Thunderbirds make the play-offs with 10 points.

30 December 2014, the Missouri Mavericks announced the signing of free agent Geordie Wudrick along with Andre Darrigo. Wudrick went on to represent the Mavricks on 26 occasions for a return of 7 points in the ECHL.

21 February 2015, Wudrick signed for Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) side Louisiana IceGators for the remainder of the 2014-15 season, continuing his professional career.

At seasons’ end Wudrick decided to venture afield in hopes of regular ice time to get himself in condition for the next SPHL season. By early March 2015 Wudrick signed for the Newcastle North Stars in Australia to compete in the 2015 AIHL (Australian Ice Hockey League) season, which falls in the North American off-season. Georgie arrived in Newcastle, Australia one week before the beginning of the season to start training in late April. 25 April 2015, Wudrick made his North Stars debut against Adelaide Adrenaline at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium. Wudrick scored the opening goal of the match in the first period as the North Stars went on to win the match 6-4 over the Adrenaline. That was the first of 44 goals Wudrick scored in the AIHL regular season in 2015 which broke the league record for most goals in a single season by one player. Wudrick also broke the record for most points by a single player as he collected a total 91 points from 28 games. Wudrick’s exploits was a catalyst in the Newcastle North Stars finishing league minor premiers and he was named North Stars MVP at the club’s annual awards ceremony. Wudrick’s good form continued in the AIHL Finals Weekend as he provided an assist in the second period and scored a third period hat trick in the semi-final against the CBR Brave to give the North Stars a 4-3 victory after being 3-0 down in the second period. Geordie then scored the first goal for the North Stars in the Goodall Cup Final as he helped the North Stars snap a seven-year Goodall Cup drought by beating the Melbourne Ice 3-2 in an overtime penalty shootout. After taking the league championship Wudrick was named the AIHL Finals MVP, AIHL Regular season MVP, AIHL Top Goal Scorer and AIHL Top Points Scorer.

Geordie returned to America following his successful record breaking stint in Australia and played a full season for the Louisiana IceGators in the SPHL. Wudrick contributed 16 goals and 6 assists in 46 games as the Louisiana IceGators finished second last in the 2015-16 SPHL season and missed out on the play-offs as a consequence.

29 March 2016, it was announced Geordie Wudrick had signed for the CBR Brave for the 2016 AIHL season.

International career

In 2007, Wudrick represented Team Canada at U-18 level in the 2007 U-18 Junior World Cup (Known as the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament) being named in the roster coached by former NHL player David Barr. Canada finished fourth in the tournament held in the Czech Republic and Slovakia after losing the bronze medal match to Russia 5-4. It was the fifth and last time Canada did not win the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament since its inception in 1991.

A tough winger, Wudrick likes to really drive to the net. Geordie scores a lot of his goals from in tight, jumping on rebounds or tipping the puck out of the air. Wudrick has great size, a hard shot and is a confident handler of the puck.

Geordie was born on 9 April 1990. Wudrick has been described as an academically inclined individual and studied business administration and management at the University of New Brunswick. Wudrick moved into the Arts facility at the University of British Columbia and completed his Bachelor of Arts (BA) of Political Science and Government in 2016. Geordie goes by the nicknames Woody or Double Corn Dogs. The unique second nickname came about when Wudrick was a youth and he would always wear the number #11 jersey. When he tucked the jersey in, his teammates and fans said it looked like two corn dogs sticking out the back. Wudrick is an enormous Pavel Bure and Vancouver Canucks fan. Geordie also enjoys cooking and is known for his scrambled breakfasts’ and if a movie is ever made of his life he would want Will Farrell to play him.

Regular season and playoffs

Personal

• 2005 Hockey Now Minor Hockey Player of the Year
• 2015 AIHL MVP
• 2015 AIHL Finals MVP
• 2015 AIHL Most Goals
• 2015 AIHL Most Points
• 2015 Newcastle North Stars MVP

Club

• 2007-08 CHL Top Prospects Game
• 2012-13 Chinook Hockey League Champion
• 2015 AIHL Goodall Cup Champion
• 2015 AIHL Minor Premiership