Lined up at Sault College
This has the makings of being a good season. Potentially, at the very least. That is, the Sault College Cougars continue to add on to what is being set up as a lusty lineup ahead of the looming 2023-2024 varsity men’s hockey season.
Two of the most recent recruits are an impact forward and a highly-touted goalie, both with northern Ontario roots. And there are so many more with a roar.
Of recent and impactful note, Cole Crowder, a hulking 6-foot-5, 220 pound forward, is headed to Sault College from the Sudbury Cubs of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
Crowder, who has a 2002 birth date, racked up 24 goals, 29 assists, 53 points and 119 minutes in penalties in 51 games for Sudbury during the 2022-2023 NOJHL regular season. He then closed out his junior hockey career with seven points in 10 playoff games for Sudbury.
Tanner Burton, who is the new head coach of the Cougars, is understandably thrilled to add Crowder to the lineup of the Sault College men, who represent the only Canadian school within the ranks of the Division 2, American Collegiate Hockey Association.
“We are very excited to have added Cole to our roster,” Burton relayed to Hockey News North. “He is a big body presence with great skating ability and puck skills … mixed together with physicality. He sees the ice very well. Not only can Cole rifle the puck and score, he has a tremendous hockey IQ which gives him the ability to also be a setup guy.”
Burton added that Crowder, who is enrolled in the Forestry Technician program at Sault College for the upcoming school term, “is a polite, well spoken young man … and again we are very excited to have him on our roster for this upcoming season.”
Meanwhile, following a strong showing at their spring skate tryout camp in June, the Cougars have since confirmed the commitment of goalie Kaylan Campbell ahead of the ’23-24 season.
Campbell, who has a 2003 birth date and stands in at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, played for the Thunder Bay Northern Hawks of the Lakehead Jr. B Hockey League in 2022-2023. He was closely followed by Sault College’s northwestern Ontario scout Don Smith, who recommended Campbell to Cougars head scout Charly Murray. Campbell subsequently attended the Sault College spring skate and impressed members of the Cougars coaching staff including goalie coach Matt Walker and aforementioned incoming head coach Tanner Burton.
Walker described Campbell to Hockey News North as a “very technically sound goaltender who moves fluidly and tracks pucks extremely well. His focus and poise in the crease are two attributes that really stood out at spring camp. His overall athleticism, compete level and desire to be the starter for us was very evident from day one of the spring skate.
“We look forward to the fall camp and seeing what Kaylan can do during our upcoming season. Kaylan possesses the ability to be a high end D2 goaltender in the ACHA,” Walker added in further praise of Campbell.
As for Burton as the Cougars bench boss, he relayed to Hockey News North that “I can’t say enough good things about Kaylan Campbell. He was a standout at our spring camp and his eagerness to play at Sault College was quite evident after one conversation with him. He has great work ethic and a great personality, showing early signs of leadership from a first year goaltender. I am excited to see what is in store for his future at Sault College, academically and athletically.”
Campbell is enrolled in the Civil Engineering Technician program at the Sault College for the upcoming school term.
OH BROTHER
There will be a brother act among the brotherhood of players on the ’23-24 edition of the Sault College varsity men’s hockey team as Hockey News North was first to report in an earlier story.
Following the first up commitment of 21-year old defenseman Jackson Jacques, 19-year old forward Jeremiah Jacques will line up with his older brother at Sault College this coming season.
Jackson, a smooth skating, free wheeling, right-hand shooting defender, is fresh from a splendid two full seasons of junior hockey performance. He spent the 2021-2022 season in the Superior International Jr. Hockey League with the Dryden Ice Dogs and, playoffs included, the 5-foot-11, 195 pound Jacques produced five goals, 33 assists, 38 points in 61 games.
The brothers, who hail from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in Griswold, Manitoba, both began the ’22-23 season in the SIJHL with Dryden. Jackson had five assists in six games before opting to leave the Ice Dogs with Jeremiah for the Peguis Juniors of the Manitoba-based Keystone Jr. Hockey League. And both lit it up with Peguis.
Jackson totalled 16 goals, 42 assists, 58 points in 34 games from his defense post. Meanwhile, Jeremiah, who had a goal and an assist in four games with Dryden, became a feared forward of force with 29 goals, 25 assists, 54 points in 32 outings for Peguis.
It was aforementioned Sault College head scout Charly Murray who recruited the brothers to attend the Cougars early June spring skate tryout camp and made them both aware of the number of programs available at Sault College.
“Jackson is such a pure talent,” Murray relayed to Hockey News North. “This is a young man who was a standout in junior hockey … and I have absolutely no that doubt that Jackson will be a standout with us in the ACHA.”
And Jeremiah, who is bigger than Jackson at 6 feet, 205 pounds, is no slouch either.
“Jeremiah is a different player than his brother. He has good size and the ability to see the ice really well at his forward position,” noted Murray.
And Tanner Burton, as the new headmaster of the Sault College men, had plenty good to say about both brothers when asked by Hockey News North in a recent interview.
“Jackson brings a solid two way presence to our blue line,” Burton began. “He is calm with the puck, walks the blue line well, and makes a great first pass. Not only is Jackson a great addition to our hockey team, he is a very well spoken, polite young man, and we believe he will be a great ambassador of Sault Collège.”
As for Jeremiah, Burton noted that “he is a young forward who shows great offensive skill. He sees the ice well and makes good plays entering the offensive zone. We are excited to see what Jeremiah can do in his first year at Sault College.”
School wise, Jackson is enrolled in the Motive Power Technician program at Sault College beginning with the fall semester while Jeremiah plans to study Sports Administration.
MORE COUGAR ROAR
Besides Crowder, Campbell and the Jacques brothers, other newcomers to the Cougars men’s program for the upcoming season include several with a junior A hockey background — forward/defenseman Mason Wesley and forwards Michael Chaffay, Ethan Novello, Kaden Laverdiere and Dylan Winsor.
Wesley (Thunder Bay North Stars) and Winsor (Thunder Bay North Stars and Dryden Ice Dogs) are formerly of the aforementioned Superior International Jr. Hockey League while Chaffay (Soo Thunderbirds), Novello (Soo Thunderbirds) and Laverdiere (Sudbury Cubs) are all alumni of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
In the meantime, among the skaters with a prior junior hockey background and participation who are poised to return to the Cougars for the ’23-24 season are steady defenseman Jordan Ritchie (Espanola Paper Kings, NOJHL) and high performance forwards Caleb Wood (Soo Eagles and Soo Thunderbirds, NOJHL) and Ethan Esposito (Kemptvile 73s of the Central Canada Hockey League and Wellington Dukes of the Ontario Jr. Hockey League.) Wood, as team captain, led Sault College in scoring during the ’22-23 season and Esposito was close behind.
Of note, Chaffay, Novello, Ritchie, Wood and Esposito are all local Sault Ste. Marie products.
To be sure, the ’23-24 season almost certainly looms as a smooth start for the Cougars, who overcame a slow beginning to the ’22-23 campaign by finishing with an overall record of 13-12-1 among Division 2, ACHA competition. And Murray as the head scout, sees a big season ahead for the Sault College men.
“I think the tryout camp and the intensity surprised a number of our prospects and when we reconvene later this summer after they have followed Coach Burton’s regime for their summer, it will be an even better roster, which I fine hard to imagine but it will be true,” Murray said evenly. “This roster is an excellent collection of student-athletes which will make the college proud both athletically and educational.
“I know how much all of us are anxious for the season to start and for us to make a run at a championship,” Murray continued. “And make no mistake about it … this is a roster of new and returning players that can legitimately make us a contender for a D2 ACHA championship. Tanner (Burton) is a committed young coach who has played the game and been an assistant (coach) and he has a good bench staff to work with.”
’23-24 SCHEDULE
The Sault College men have lined up a 28-game regular season for ’23-24 with 11 home matches slated for the new Northern Community Centre.
Included in the schedule are four home and home games with each of nearby rivals Lake Superior State Lakers, Northern Michigan Wildcats and Michigan Tech Huskies.
Sault College will open on the road at Michigan Tech with games on September 30 and October 1. First home game for the Cougar men is scheduled for Thursday, October 5 at 7:00 p.m. at the Northern Community Centre with Concordia Wisconsin providing the opposition.
What a great review once again. We are not going to sit back and expect it to happen but work each and every shift and earn our standing. I’m very excited for this season with our new staff additions and this roster.🏒🥅🇨🇦🪶