Exit Interviews 2024-25: #34 Stephen Halliday

With the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs well underway and the Belleville Senators wading into the offseason, David Foot sat down with the players to reflect on a year filled with challenges, growth, and standout moments. In this exclusive series of year-in-review interviews, players open up about their personal journeys, team milestones, and what it meant to represent Belleville and the Bay of Quinte this season. From locker room highlights to on-ice battles, these conversations offer a behind-the-scenes look at the season that was — and a glimpse at what’s ahead.

Today, we check in with forward Stephen Halliday, who completed his first full professional season by leading the Belleville Sens in scoring:

DF: Congratulations on your club rookie of the year award. 52 points is a pretty good campaign for a first-year player in this league, and you finished among the top scorers in rookies in the AHL. How did you feel about your first full season in the American Hockey League after joining the team late last year?

SH: There were a lot of things to learn in terms of the number of games you play, I think I played 71, so almost a full season, and a lot of things to learn from the older guys, how to take care of my body. Overall, I thought I got better as the year went on, but we didn’t make the playoffs, so that was disappointing. Especially after getting a taste of it last year, it just shows how hard it is to make it. I wouldn’t say it was an entirely successful season, but I definitely got better at the game of hockey.

DF: How different was this season and playoff push from last year, or was it different at all?

SH: Last year, I just didn’t really know what to expect, and I kind of took it for granted. I didn’t realize how hard it was to make the playoffs because we jumped a couple of teams right at the end and won the first round. So I’ve realized how special that was in hindsight. But it’s good to add fuel to the fire for next year to come back and make the playoffs. We have a really good group of young guys here, so I think we can really push next year.

DF: You talk about adding fuel to the fire or what motivates you. You got a couple of call-ups to Ottawa to practice this season. What was that experience like, and how much more fuel does that add to making that next step to the National Hockey League?

SH: It was cool for them to reward me like that and to be able to practice with Timmy (Tim Stutzle) and G (Claude Giroux) and learn from them. Even during practice, they’re talking to me and giving me tips, and the practices even feel like games up there, with how intense they are. I feel like I was able to take some details away from those practices and utilize them in the second half of the year. It’s definitely cool, and it makes you really hungry to stay there.

DF: Is there anywhere in your game that you’re pleased with your growth this year and anywhere you’re hoping to make more progress through the summer?

SH: I think in making progress, I want to have more of an “attack mindset”.  Get a little bit faster and play with pace. I definitely want to get a lot stronger this summer. In past summers, I’ve done a lot of on-ice work and skating, but I think getting stronger will help me win a lot more battles in the AHL. And faceoffs, I think I got a lot better in the last 15 games and talking with Gags (Sam Ganger) when he came on and took a bit of a mentorship role with me. So that’s stuff I want to work on. But I think I balanced the highs and lows this year, and trying to figure that out next year through 71 games will be big.

DF: How else will you spend your time this summer?

SH: I think I’m going to work out with (Ottawa Senators Director of Player Health & Performance) Matt Nichol in June, and then I’m going to go back to Ohio State University to train for July and August with a really good group of pro guys. Joe Dunlap, who actually played his first pro game against us with Laval, is a guy I’ve battled through a lot with. A lot of good pro guys in there, and they have a world-class facility. I want to get stronger, so I feel like that’s the best place for me. And Matt obviously works with Ottawa, so I’ll go there and focus on my body.

The full interview is available below.

2025-26 Belleville Sens Season Seat Memberships are on sale now by contacting the Belleville Sens office at 613-967-8067, emailing tickets@bellevillesens.com, or visiting the Belleville Sens website.

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