Beavers sign pair of Americans
Two American-born skaters from Illinois have signed with the Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed.
They are 6-foot-2, 165-pound defenseman Jacob Papesh and 6-foot-1, 185-pound forward Tiger Weber.
Both players have 1998 birth dates and are represented by David Maciuk of JDM Sports.
Papesh played with the Chicago Fury major midgets last season while Weber toiled for the Soo Indians major midgets.
Beavers head coach Kyle Brick told HockeyNewsNorth.com that the pair will be welcome additions to a new-look Blind River team that missed the NOJHL playoffs last season.
“Jacob is a player we have been after for quite some time,” Brick said of Papesh. “We expect Jacob to be a presence on our back end and carry big-time minutes.”
As for Weber, Brick noted that “Tiger is a guy who we expect to create space for his linemates. He’s a big power forward who can skate.”
Preparatory to the 2016-2017 NOJHL season, Blind River will hold its main camp this weekend at John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
I’m excited to see Blind River take to the ice. I’m strongly predicting that they’ll finish high for the first time ever. They’ve never won a playoff series in the 16 years as the Barons/Beavers. I have high expectations for what’s to come in Blind River.
Ryan,
In fact, the Beavers have won a playoff series, doing so with Todd Stencill as coach.
I love the Beaver