Ready to roll in Espanola
The Paper Kings are primed to play. A full selection of returning players and incoming new recruits are part of the roster formation for Espanola with the ’25-26 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League regular season slated to start on September 11.
A nest of northern lads are among the holdovers who have thus far signed up to once again play for the small market Paper Kings come the ’25-26 NOJHL season.
Forwards Carter Drigo, Ashton Pitawanakwat, Lucas Dubois (in photo above) and Cain Savage and defensemen Tyler Thompson and Carter Makasoff are all poised to play a second season in the NOJHL for Espanola. All are from the Greater Sudbury area with the exception of Dubois who is a local Espanola lad.
Among others who are set to return to the Paper Kings for a second season in ’25-26 season are goalie Jack Helkie and forwards Graydon Guthrie and Jason Galante.
Meantime, newcomers to the Paper Kings program for ’25-26 will include goalie Logan Vale, defensemen Carter Brownlee, Liam Shaw and Nolan Garrard and forwards Callum Millar, Colton Loiselle, Joseph Coates, Nicholas Arbour and Owen Smith. Brownlee (Sudbury), Loiselle (North Bay), Smith (North Bay) and Arbour (Dryden) are all from the north. Notably, Smith was an 11th round pick by the North Bay Battalion at the 2025 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
As for the aforementioned returnees:
• Carter Drago, who has a 2007 birth date, had 12 goals, 8 assists, 20 points in 47 games for Espanola in ’24-25. He has good size to go with a good junior A skill set.
• Lucas Dubois, who has a 2007 birth date, was limited to 32 games for the Paper Kings due to injury in ’24-25. He managed five goals, two assists, seven points.
• Cain Savage, who has a 2006 birth date, had one goal, three assists, four points in 43 games as a depth player with the Paper Kings in ’24-25.
• Ashton Pitawanakwat, who has a 2008 birth date, tallied 12 goals, 24 assists, 36 points in 48 games for the Paper Kings in ’24-25. He was a 14th round pick by the Barrie Colts at the 2024 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
• Carter Makasoff, who has a 2007 birth date, had two goals, eight assists, 10 points in 45 games for the Paper Kings in ’24-25.
• Tyler Thompson, who has a 2006 birth date, had three goals, three assists, six points in 38 games for the Paper Kings in ’24-25.
• Jack Helkie, who has a 2006 birth date, had a record of 7-10-1 in ’24-25 with a 4.64 goals against average and .880 save percentage for the Paper Kings in ’24-25.
• Graydon Guthrie, who has a 2005 birth date, has played in 159 career games in the NOJHL for Espanola over three years– regular season and playoffs included — and has produced 48 goals, 71 assists, 119 points.
• Jason Galante, who has a 2006 birth date, had 15 goals, 13 assists, 28 points in 44 games for the Paper Kings in ’24-25.
• Meanwhile, Espanola recently reacquired high scoring forward Cameron Menard from the Niagara Falls Canucks of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League in a cash transaction. The 6 foot, 190 pound Menard, who has a 2006 birth date, lit the lamp for Espanola to start the ’24-25 season before being dealt to Niagara Falls. In just 26 NOJHL games with the Paper Kings, Menard had 19 goals, 17 assists, 36 points.
Coached by team owner and all around good guy Jason Rapcewicz, the small town Paper Kings of Espanola just missed the NOJHL playoffs in ’24-25 with 46 points from a record of 21-27-4. In finishing in ninth place in ’24-25, Espanola was a mere two points back of the eighth place Iroquois Falls Storm and only three points behind the seventh seed Powassan Voodoos.
In addition to Rapcewicz, the Espanola hockey department also includes hardworking general manager Marc Gagnon and grizzled NOJHL goalie coach Bill Vanderleest.
Vanderleest, who commutes from his home in Sault Ste. Marie to Espanola for practices, is particularly happy to have the above mentioned Jack Helkie back in the Paper Kings net for the ’25-26 season.
To be sure, the venerable Vanderleest, who is about to enter his third season as the goalie coach in Espanola after spending the previous several years in a similar role with the Soo Eagles of the NOJHL, noted the potential in Helkie.
“I am happy to see Jack back with us for the upcoming season,” Vanderleest relayed to Hockey News North. “As a very young goalie he showed a lot of potential in his play last season that we can build on for this coming season.
“He works hard to improve every practice. In addition to that, Jack is well liked by his teammates and a leader in the dressing room,” Vanderleest added in further praise of Helkie.