Powassan via North Bay
Powassan Voodoos of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have again stayed close to home to sign a high level forward from the Great North Under 18 Hockey League playoff champion North Bay Trappers.
Justin Rousseau, who was the most valuable player, best defensive forward and a first team all star with the U18 Trappers in 2022-2023, has signed up to play for Powassan ahead of the 2023-2024 NOJHL season. He netted 11 goals, 16 assists, 27 points in 23 regular season games for North Bay in ’22-23 and then potted two goals in five playoff outings as the second seed Trappers stunned the top seed Soo Jr. Greyhounds to take home the Great North crown.
Powassan head coach Peter Goulet is quite familiar with Rousseau.
“He would have definitely made our team last year but I think he made the right decision going back to the U18 Trappers as it was a great year for him, obviously he was named league MVP and he is just a great kid,” Goulet said of Rousseau. “He is a power forward who plays hard and he is a kid who is captain or alternate captain material for us down the road.”
As for Rousseau, he believes that he is ready to move up from the Great North to the NOJHL.
“It feels great, I have been looking forward to this for a while and am just thankful for the opportunity,” said the 5-foot-11, 175 pound Rousseau, who has a 2005 birth date.
He believes his experience as a captain of the U18 championship team in North Bay will be a boost as he advances to Powassan and the NOJHL.
“I think the teammates were really close together in North Bay, we had been playing together for a while,” said Rousseau about the U18 Trappers group. “I was just happy to join that team and I think I can bring that chemistry to the Voodoos as well. “
Earlier this off season, the Voodoos signed another major contributor from the U18 Trappers title team in 2006 birth year forward Caleb Dawson. Dawson lit it up to the tune of 23 goals, 25 assists, 48 points in 27 games, regular season and playoffs included, for the Great North playoff champion U18 Trappers in ’22-23.
The 6-foot-2, 175 pound Dawson, who has a 2006 birth date, was subsequently selected by the North Bay Battalion in the second round of the 2023 Ontario Hockey League supplemental draft.
