All signs point to success for Jr. A Canadians, Several local players spark interest in NCAA
Posted Jun 3, 2010 By Jeff Maguire
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Tweet ThisEMC Sports - With five players already attracting interest from American colleges and universities and several good prospects on the radar for next season, Carleton Place Canadians' management and staff can be forgiven for feeling confident.
"I think there is a really bright future ahead for this team and for Junior A hockey in Carleton Place," Canadians' head coach and owner Jason Clarke says.
"I thought for an expansion club we played very well. We weren't far from making the playoffs and we won 10 more games than Kemptville (73's) did in their first two seasons in the league," Clarke added.
Kemptville, the CHL's previous expansion side in 2007, finished eight points ahead of Carleton Place in the Robinson Division to grab the eighth and final playoff place. But they won just 15 games in each of their first two campaigns.
Clarke, who shares general manager duties with Jeff Hawkins, the team's director of hockey operations, is pleased with the results of the recent CHL entry draft. He is also excited to have so many players from last season returning.
"Everyone is eligible and that's huge for us," he underlines, while noting that some off-season and draft related trades mean there are places to be filled in the line-up. He is confident those positions will be taken by some good, young talent.
"We signed one player before the draft and I have two more I am sure we will sign very soon," Clarke observes, referring to a recent scouting trip to the United States.
What makes him especially proud as he prepares for the next campaign is the interest shown in several of his players.
"Tyler Kotlarz (Canadians' top scorer) is already committed to Army," he explains.
Army is the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. And Kotlarz, a 19 year-old from Hudsonville, Michigan, is expected to report to the academy following his second campaign in Carleton Place. Kotlarz scored 57 points, including 29 goals and appeared in all 62 games for Canadians last season.
"Rusty Hafner, Donovan Gardiner, Theo Hannah and Matthew English are all attracting attention from the NCAA (American National Collegiate Athletic Association)," the coach says.
Hafner, a native of Toledo, Ohio was a mainstay on the Carleton Place blueline in 2009-2010. The 19-year-old also finished fifth in team scoring with 12 goals and 16 assists in 60 games.
Gardiner, a 17-year-old Carleton Place native, also impressed in his first season of Junior A hockey. He tied Hafner as the top scoring defenceman on the team with 28 points including nine goals.
Hannah, 19, of Bedford, Nova Scotia was solid on defence and contributed 17 points including 16 assists. English, 19, hails from Dartmouth, N.S. and although he joined the club partway through the campaign he contributed 10 points in 32 appearances for Carleton Place.
Last season wasn't exactly the first time around the block for Clarke.
Besides playing Junior A and Junior B hockey during his own on ice career, the Carleton Place resident has also enjoyed a stellar coaching career at both levels.
He spent three years as coach of Ottawa Junior Senators of the CHL, winning back-to-back Robinson Division pennants along the way.
During the three seasons leading up to the approval of his bid for a local Junior A franchise, Clarke was head coach of the former Carleton Place Legion Kings (now Almonte Thunder) of the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League (Junior B).
He led Legion Kings to the Valley Division final in all three campaigns, including back-to-back championships in 2007 and 2008.
"I feel like I have a long (coaching) career ahead of me and I look forward to a lot more success in Carleton Place," Clarke notes.
"We should have a really strong future here.
"Crowds dropped off in the latter part of the season, especially once we fell out of the playoff race. People (fans) here are used to winning," he observes.
"But as we (Canadians) grow as a team, so will our fan base," he predicts confidently.
As it was Carleton Place finished fifth in attendance in the 12-team league in their first season. That fact speaks to what the coach has said about the community.
Clarke is pleased with the direction the CHL is taking under newly named president Kevin Abrams. He was previously called "commissioner."
"Without Kevin we wouldn't be where we are.
"He is an innovative thinker and that is really good for our league."
Clarke will be on the road quite a bit at the beginning of June, attending hockey showcases (talent identification events) in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Newfoundland, Canada.
The scouting trips will precede the club's tryout and import camp which takes place June 11-13 at the Beckwith Recreation Complex near Blacks Corners.
As for the recent CHL draft, held May 19 in Orleans, Clarke and Hawkins are pleased with the nine players they secured. They also expect some of those chosen to develop quickly which will assist Carleton Place in the immediate future.
"It (draft) went better than we could ever have imagined," the head coach and owner of the team says.
"We only missed one guy we had on our list."
In this, their second draft, Carleton Place protected rather than drafted in the opening round. With the fourth selection they pinned their hopes on 15-year-old left winger Stephen Baylis of Arnprior. The 5' 10", 155 pound forward played for the elite Ottawa Valley Titans (Midget AAA) team this past season.
Clarke is especially excited to land defenceman Elias Ghantous, the fourth selection in Round 2.
"Eli is a big, tough defenceman with a nasty edge to his play," Clarke chuckles, saying the hockey club needs some toughness on the blueline.
Ghantous, who hails from Gloucester in east Ottawa, is a 16-year-old who played for Ottawa 67's (Midget AAA) last season.
Canadians also made a trade with Gloucester Rangers, the host club for the draft, sending veteran forward Brock Plouffe to Rangers in exchange for their second round draft choice and future considerations.
Clarke and Hawkins used the selection to land left winger Cole Allard from Pembroke.
The 15-year-old has an impressive hockey lineage!
"Cole is one of 13 Allard brothers to play hockey. Most of them played Junior A or Junior B," the coach explains.
Carleton Place brass was certain Allard, who played Midget for Valley Titans last season, would be selected in the first round. When he wasn't they pounced with their second pick in Round 2.
Plouffe, who joined Canadians partway through the season, had 26 points in 24 games for the club including a dozen goals.
Carleton Place used their third round draft pick to select 16-year-old forward Eric Malloy of Ottawa. The son of Kemptville 73's head coach Pat Malloy, he played Junior B last season for Brockville Tikis of the Rideau Division of the EOJHL.
Canadians didn't have a fourth round selection. But in the fifth they again reached into Junior B ranks, claiming goaltender Troy Anderson, a Carleton Place native. Clarke and company used a pick secured in an earlier trade with Cumberland Grads to acquire the young puck stopper.
Anderson, 17, helped backstop Perth Blue Wings to the Valley Division championship in the EOJHL this past season. Clarke feels he could step into the Carleton Place line-up immediately.
"He will be playing for us - that is absolutely certain."
Clarke recently traded forward Zach Allen of Kingston to Wellington Dukes of the Central Canadian Hockey League (Junior A) for future considerations.
As mentioned Clarke has already been on one American scouting trip. At a recent player showcase in Detroit he saw and signed 18-year-old forward Dan Kolenda from Wisconsin.
"He's a 6' 4", 225 pound right winger and he looks very good," the coach observes.
At last year's Detroit event Clarke signed defenceman Hafner who turned out to be a huge find for the new team.
Clubs in the recently renamed and redesignated (Tier 1 Junior A) league will now hold summer prospects' events as they prepare for the opening of their main training camps in August.
The new campaign begins Sept. 10-12 when the league stages its opening Showcase event. This year's competition, during which all 12 teams play two regular season contests over the course of three days, will be staged at Kanata Recreation Complex, home of the CHL Stallions.
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