Rapids flowing in French River
Busy at his day job in sales at Nickel Belt Camping, Jessy Landry has nonetheless found the time as president and general manager of the French River Rapids to put together the team that will soon begin its second season in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
After finishing last overall in the 12-team NOJHL in 2015-2016, French River is now under the first-year ownership of Landry, who insists the Rapids will be much-improved in 2016-2017 with six returning forwards, a veteran defenseman and the acquisition of goalie Al Rogers from the Elliot Lake Wildcats and hulking forward Kaden Hintz from the Cochrane Crunch.
“Our team is shaping up,” Landry told HockeyNewsNorth.com. “We have a lot more experience than last season.”
Indeed, there is no where to go but up for the Rapids, who won just two games as an expansion team last season.
And not only is Landry encouraged by the returning veterans and off-season acquisitions but he has high hopes for a collection of NOJHL newcomers that include four players from the Team Ontario National Aboriginal championship squad.
Among the other rookies are three players with 2000 birth dates, including 6-foot-4, 208-pound left winger Christian Gaudreau, a Val Caron product who was a ninth-round pick of the Sudbury Wolves at the 2016 Ontario Hockey League draft.