Paper Kings hard at work
They have moved on through trades of a number of impact veteran players from a ’23-24 season in which they posted a franchise history best record of 34-23-1. And while the small market Espanola Paper Kings have since committed to more of a youth movement for the ’24-25 campaign they nonetheless more than held their own through the first 15 games of the current Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season.
Using the initial 15 games of the ’24-25 season as somewhat of a bench mark, Paper Kings president and head coach Jason Rapcewicz told Hockey News North that being at the .500 level with a record of 7-7-1 and in the middle of the pack of the 12 team NOJHL is “pretty good.”
Rapcewicz expanded on his comments by noting that “we are happy with our results so far. Playing .500 hockey with one of the youngest teams in the league is pretty good. We definitely need to Improve in some areas but our guys come in to the rink and work hard every day.”
Rapcewicz added that losing top players from last season such as forwards Lucas Signoretti, Owen Fergusson and Blake Peters-Davey as well as defenseman Spencer Horgan to other junior teams presented a challenge to try to overcome heading into this season.
“As you know we lost a lot of experience in the off season which was difficult to replace. We managed to fill some of the holes with some really good players and we also upped the expectations on some of the returning guys as well. All in all we are happy with the first 15 games and are looking to develop and be stronger over the next 15,” added the even keeled Rapcewicz, who also is the owner and operator of the Espanola franchise.
Meanwhile, Paper Kings general manager Marc Gagnon, who is the right hand man to Rapcewicz when it comes to scouting and recruiting, relayed to Hockey News North that the youthful energy on the Espanola roster stands out to him.
“We had a busy off season and we made many changes to our line up. We feel we are almost afraid of where we anticipated being at this point of the season. We are young and energetic and we have a great people in the dressing room led by our captain Aiden Pethick,” said Gagnon.
Leading the way for Espanola thus far this season have been a combination of seasoned and first year players.
2006 birth year forward Cameron Menard is atop the Paper Kings scoring chart with 13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points. Next up is 2007 birth year forward and 2023 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft pick of the Sudbury Wolves, Grant Booth, who has five goals, 12 assists, 17 points. Then there is 2005 birth year power forward Graydon Guthrie, who has put up 16 points, including 12 goals.
Rookie Kaden Wicklander has come through with five goals, 11 assists, 16 points to date. The 2008 birth year skater was snagged by the Brantford Bulldogs from the Sudbury Under 16 Wolves of the Great North Under 18 Hockey League in the 11th round of the 2024 OHL priority selections draft. In 44 games with the U16 Wolves, regular season and playoffs included, during the ’23-24 season, Wicklander rang up 21 goals, 28 assists, 49 points.
A pair of defensemen are also producing points at a high rate. 2004 birth year defender Aiden Pethick has one goal, 15 assists, 16 points while Luke Hill, a 2006 birth year blue liner, has three goals, 11 assists, 14 points. Hill formerly played in the NOJHL with the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners.
Besides Wicklander, two other rookie forwards have also stood out.
Greater Sudbury product Carter Drigo, who was born in 2007, has six goals, four assists, 10 points in 14 games while local Espanola product Lucas Dubois has four goals, one assist, five points in just 10 outings. A 2007 birth year forward, the 5 foot 10, 180 pound Dubois skated for the New Liskeard Cubs of the Great North Under 18 Hockey League in ’23-24 and produced 14 goals, five assists, 19 points in 29 games. He also played in two NOJHL games for Espanola as an affiliate player and netted a goal, two assists, three points.
In all, more than half of the Paper Kings roster is made up of players from Northern Ontario, which is most certainly a credit to the Espanola program.
If there is one area that Coach Rapcewicz and his staff will be looking for improvement from as this season goes on is in the goals against department. Espansola has put up 68 goals in its first 15 games but the Paper Kings have allowed 74. The graduation of workhorse goalie Jake Marois from the past two seasons has put the onus on a trio of rookie puck stoppers in the Espanola net.
All in all, though, as the Espanola hockey bosses have noted, the Paper Kings have looked “pretty good” thus far as evidenced by a 7-7-1 record through 15 games to begin this ’24-25 season.
The Paper Kings are a very entertaining team to go and watch. They have battled to get to .500 hockey in the first 15 games and will have to improve as the season goes along. A great job by Jason and Marc to fill the holes left by departing players. Menard appears to be taking Signoretti’s place scoring wise. Lucas had 12 goals and 17 assists in the first 15 games last season.