LNAH – Page 5

LNAH 2013 Draft: Marquis De Jonquiere

Up next as we take a look at the 2013 LNAH draft is the reigning league champs, Les Marquis De Jonquiere. (Say that 10 times fast.)

With the last pick in the first round, Jonquiere picked up a goaltender in Travis Fullerton. (What’s with all the goalies being drafted?!) Fullerton spent the past 5 years with the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds but also spent time in the “Q” with the Lewiston MAINEiancs and the Saint John Sea Dogs. In the 2010-2011 season, he was in the crease for 20 games and scored up 5 shutouts.

With the second pick, Jonquiere selected a player that needs no introduction to the fans in Cornwall. Ahmed Mahfouz is an agitating right winger who spent the past 3 seasons in the Federal Hockey League; 2 of them with the Akwesasne Warriors. With the Dayton Demonz last season, he somehow racked up an astonishing 111 points in 46 games!!! (Where was that in Akwesasne. Huh.)

Another player of note that is now Marquis property is Alex Penner. A towering 6’4 enforcer, Penner has spent his playing career among various leagues including the English Elite league, AHL and CHL, wining a championship last year for Mike Modano’s Allen Americans. And if you don’t believe me well….

Looks like the Marquis is trying for back to back championships. It’ll be interesting to see how this season plays out.

2013 LNAH Draft: Riviere Du Loup 3L

I thought I might as well take a look at how some of the other teams faired in last week’s LNAH draft.

The 3L of Riviere Du Loup, (for all you english folk, that’s Wolf River 3L), played smart and drafted a wonderful pick in the first round. Simon Danis-Pepin is a native of Montreal and was drafted 61st overall in the 2nd of the 2006 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. He was signed to a 3 year entry level deal but has spent most of his playing career in the AHL and ECHL playing for such teams as the Rockford IceHogs, Toledo Walleye and Orlando Solar Bears.

Simon Danis-Pepin (Photo: the_mel, flickr.)

Last season was spent with the San Franciso Bulls of the ECHL afer being exchanged through a trade with Orlando. Standing a 6’7, Danis-Pepin is a force to be reckoned with on defence. I’m sure 3L will use his size to their advantage.

Another notable pick came in the 3rd round with Jean Sebastien Berube. Drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 2008, he has spent the past 3 years playing for New Jersey’s primary affiliate, the Albany Devils. Making his professional debut against the Binghamton Senators, he finished the 2011-2013 season tied for first on team with a plus 6 rating.

Other players of note that are now 3L’s property are goaltender Andrew Fleming who just finished a season with McGill University and Nicholas Tremblay who was a apart of the AHL’s Providence Bruins. All in all, not a bad draft for 3L.

Here’s the full 10

1. Simon Danis-Pepin2. TRADED
3. Jean Sebastien Berube
4. Nicholas Tremblay, Alex Belzile
5. Coderre Gagnon, Mathieu Olivier Daoust
6. Andrew Flemming
7. Alex Emond
8. Tommy Castonguay
9. Christian Ouellet
10. TRADED

All The Kings Men: River Kings 2013 LNAH Draft

Oh dear. What a circus act it has been this past year for the Cornwall River Kings. First losing critical pieces in management, then coaching staff, it’s actually quite shocking that the team is still here in the first place. Of course there’s plenty of rumors swirling around but I’m not about to gossip. Instead let’s criticize one of the worst drafts I’ve ever seen!

Loic Lacasse. Cornwall River Kings. (PHOTO: Allison Papineau.)

First things first. Cornwall has a remarkable goaltender in Loic Lacasse. In case you’re not keeping track, Lacasse went 181st in the 6th round in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft to the Montreal Canadiens. And you want to know a fun fact about that statistic? He got drafted HIGHER then PEKKA RINNE. Rinne went in 258th in the 8TH ROUND.

And in case you’ve been living under a rock, Pekka Rinne plays for the Nashville Predators and was nominated for the Vezina 2 years in a row (2011, 2012). I don’t know about you but being drafted higher then a two time Vezina trophy nominee AND winning the league’s award for best goaltender says something in my books. But what do I know.

So we come to the 2013 LNAH draft with our heads held high. After all of this management fiasco, we are determined that we will be able to snag a few brilliant pieces into the fold. And in the first round we draft………a goalie.

Sigh. Brilliant. 2 of Cornwall’s 10 picks turned out to be goaltenders. I wasn’t aware that our goaltending situation was in trouble.

Jonathan Zion. Chicago Express. (PHOTO: Farm8. Flickr.)

Anyway, with the second pick Cornwall selected Jonathan Zion. A huge defensive addition that will hopefully fill the hole left from Sasha Pokulok who is heading off to Russia next season.

Here’s the final draft order: