VB Hockey Preview & Where Are They Now

The Stanstead College Varsity Boys Hockey Spartans will take to the ice this weekend in Lake Placid, New York against the Northwood School Huskies. These games at the Olympic Centre, which played host to the 1932 and 1980 Olympics, will mark the Spartans’ first games of the year. After a successful 2017-2018 season, many of last year’s players have moved on. Some of this year’s players are ready for bigger roles, while others have joined the family and are eager to hit the ice as a Spartan for the first time.

This is a special year in Stanstead College hockey as it marks the 125th year that hockey has been played here. You don’t achieve this type of longevity and success without strong commitment. As we have prepared for our opening weekend, a constant message has been that each and every member of the team must be committed to doing the little things shift in and shift out. With so many new Spartan faces, it will be important that we focus on playing the game the right way and trusting that this will lead to success throughout the season.

Many former Spartans from last year have already jumped out to quick starts with their new teams. Sean Larochelle and Fabio Iacobo are helping the Victoriaville Tigers through a rebuilding year, the Campbell brothers are playing in the BCHL for the Victoria Grizzlies, and having some great success. Alex leads the team in scoring and was recently added to the NHL watch list, and his brother Charlie continues to work his way onto the scoresheet as well. As we said often last year, don’t sleep on Charlie; when you do, the puck will end up in the back of the net. Joining the Campbell’s in the BCHL is Samuel Feldman who is playing for the Surrey Eagles.

Moving east to Ontario, two of last year’s leaders on the blue line are playing in the OJHL. Former captain Trevor Grasby is patrolling the blue line for the Aurora Tigers, and Chris Dedayan is crafting his trade with the Kingston Vees. As we continue east into our own province, both Shon Olivier Roy and Dakota Albino are playing in the Jr AAA loop, Dakota for Lac St. Louis and Shon for College Français.

Two Spartans from last year’s team headed south to the USA: Karen Davtyan is playing in the EHL for the Walpole Express and Olivier Faucher is playing in the USPHL Premier League for the DME Hockey Academy. Finally, two players headed back home to play: Jesse Salo returned to Finland is playing for the Blue U20 Jr. A team, and Keiran Gallant is playing and putting up big numbers for the Kensington Wild in the NB/PEI Midget AAA league.

Without a doubt this is a lot of turnover, but the show, and the tradition must go on. This year’s team will be captained by Richard Hall (Shelburne, Vermont). The assistant captains will be Andrew Amousse, Brendan McCarthy and Gregory Lapointe.

A special shout-out to David Jankowski (2015, St. Lawrence University) and Erkka Vanska (2015, Sacred Heart University) who will both start their NCAA Division One careers this weekend.

Please be sure to check back for more stories throughout the course of the season. As a rule, few names will be mentioned, but it is my hope that you will get a good sense of what is going on week in and week out with the Spartans as well as continue to give updates on more of our alums.