Trenton Golden Hawks Former Coach to Lead New Players

By Jeff Gard/ Total Sports Quinte Photo by Amy Deroche OJHL Images

A new Ontario Junior Hockey League season began with a balance of new and returning players for the Trenton Golden Hawks.

There’s also a new coach and general manager, but one very familiar to Golden Hawks fans as Jerome Dupont returned to those roles with the organization. “It’s exciting, no doubt about that. I love the community, ownership and management is fantastic, so many good people in the organization, so it wasn’t a difficult decision,” said Dupont, who had been in the role of director of hockey operations before replacing Peter Goulet. “We’re looking forward to what’s ahead.”

Dupont likes his roster, but said there’s still work to be done.

“I think it’s a good group,” he said. “I think there’s good chemistry, we’re bigger, we’re stronger, we’re tougher.”

Whether there is enough high-end skill up front is still to be determined, he noted. After all, it’s not easy to replace offence from guys like Dalton Bancroft (37 goals, 55 assists), Jake Campbell (31 goals, 33 assists) and Aiden MacIntosh (22 goals, 30 assists).

“Our strength is our defence,” Dupont remarked, referring to the group led by returnees Nathan Oickle, Austin D’Orazio, Lucas Robinson, Sami Douglas-Najem and newcomer Jaden Raad. “Our goaltending is solid with (Ethan) Fraser and (Luka) Dobrich. I think it will make for a good start.”

Other key returning players up front include Matthew Cato, Jordan Fuller and Stephen McDonald. The Golden Hawks also brought back former players Jake Laville from the Collingwood Blues and Sam Williamson from the St. Catharines Falcons. “We saw a lot of him last year shutting the door for Lindsay and it’s safe to say opponents had a fair amount of quality shots against him and he still managed to have real good stats,” Dupont said.

Dobrich played last season with the Chatham Maroons of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

“They had a great year,” Dupont said. “His stats reflect some real good play and I’ve watched him play as well.

“At the end of the day there’s some fresh blood and good new players.” Dupont added that it’s great to have the OJHL return to a traditional regular season schedule with the opportunity for the Golden Hawks to play every team in the league again. “It’s fun to play teams you don’t see too often,” he said. “You have to figure it out real quick. You don’t have three games to figure out how another team plays.”

“They were with the team at the beginning of the year (2021-22) when it was No. 1 in the country,” Dupont said, adding he’s pleased by the group of returning players to the lineup. “They’re all very good players,” he said.

One new player, who Dupont previously coached in Cobourg, made a strong impression right away. Mitch Lafay was acquired in the offseason and was named the new captain of the Golden Hawks.

“It’s always difficult to make choices right and there’s lots of good leaders, some guys that didn’t even get letters,” Dupont said. “Mitch is a really mature young man whose got good values and is really motivated and who I think is going to be a difference maker. I think he’s capable of great things at both ends of the ice. He’s a very responsible two-way player and he’ll lead by example, but then he’ll also lead in the room with his maturity and vocally.” Other new players include forward Nate Burelle, who was one of the top offensive contributors for the Lindsay Muskies last season as well as Raad on defence who had a strong Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League season last year with the Hearst Lumberjacks. In net, Fraser who is from Belleville had a strong OJHL campaign last season for the Muskies.

Sunday, Oct. 16: Stouffville at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23: Lindsay at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28: North York at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30: Burlington at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4: Toronto Patriots at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6: Collingwood at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11: Caledon at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18: Wellington at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25: Cobourg at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27: Mississauga at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2: Toronto Patriots at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4: Mississauga at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9: Haliburton at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18: Wellington at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15: Aurora at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29: Lindsay at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3: Toronto Jr. Canadiens at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24: Cobourg at Trenton, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26: Wellington at Trenton, 7:30 p.m.