by Allison Loranger
Tribune

The Sturgeon Falls Lumberjacks’ sole local player will soon be saying good-bye to the team.

Joel Sénécal, now 21, was just 16 years-old when he took home the top scorer award while playing for the North Bay Trappers, and after being overlooked by the OHL draft two years in a row, he made his way to Quebec.

“I had a lot of offers from major junior in Quebec, so I decided to eventually go play for Drummondville, Quebec,” he shares.

“School is different down there; I came up a little bit too fast. Skill wise I was okay, but mentally it was tough for me because you are playing against guys that are going to the NHL next year and stuff like that,” he recalls.

While playing in Drummondville, he was soon traded to Val-d’Or, Quebec and finished his year there.  “[It was] still the same thing (…) I wasn’t really going to school because the system’s different, so I finally decided to come back to Ontario and finish my high school at least,” he says.

Once back home, he played on North Bay’s NOJHL team, the Sky Hawks, which was personally satisfying, he states.  “We had a good year. I think we lost maybe four or five games that year. We ended up losing in the finals to Sault Ste. Marie and then that’s when I got a tryout in the OHL for Peterborough. I went there, had a good camp, and again it was just too fast,” he recounts.

“I was 19 at the time, and it’s hard to make an OHL team when you’re 19, unless you’re [in the] top players,” he says. Sénécal ended up finishing his year playing for the Trenton Golden Hawks.  Last year, he played for the OJHL Oakville Blades, calling that his best year.  “That was a good experience, probably my best year I had. It’s a 37-team league and we lost in the finals again. We had a good year, we had a good run in the playoffs,” he says.

Sénécal is currently playing centre for the Lumberjacks, and says he is thrilled to play for his hometown.  “I got a couple offers from universities and then I talked to Nipissing too, the Lakers, and then I decided to come back here because my parents are here, and by living at home I’m saving money while going to school here,” he shares.

He adds that there were supposed to be a lot of players from the Lakers leaving the team last year, however most of them ended up going back. “There wasn’t any room left, so it was really hard to make the team this year. It ended up that I just decided to come play for Sturgeon. I talked to a couple more teams in this league, but obviously it’s my hometown, I wanted to play for Sturgeon. I wanted to play in this league,” says Sénécal.

After this year, there will be big changes for the 21-year old, who doesn’t think he’ll be returning to Nipissing University. He has been in talks with a couple of universities for next year. “I’m hoping to play next year, play in university somewhere [while] getting a good education. If that goes somewhere, well that’s good. If it doesn’t, at least I have my education. I can start working, start my life up,” he says, adding that he is currently studying criminology and would like to become a police officer one day.

“I’m having lots of fun. I had rough years, especially my first two years being a rookie was really hard, especially in major juniors, so it’s good just to be relaxed and just have fun.”

Most recently, Sénécal took part in an All-Star hockey game in Gravenhurst. “It was pretty fun, it was a good experience,” he reminisces “I was the only North American from my team so it was fun playing. All the Europeans on my team, they are good, so it was fun.” Sénécal hopes the Lumberjacks win the league championship for Sturgeon Falls. “I think we have the team to win it and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t win it. We have all the key pieces and I say, skill wise, I don’t think anybody can touch us,” he states confidently. 

“All the coaches I had in Sturgeon, [they] helped me a lot, [they] helped me get where I am today, I appreciate it,” concludes Sénécal.

The Sturgeon Falls Lumberjacks took a pair of home games against two of the Greater Metro Jr. A League teams Friday and Saturday, downing the South Muskoka Shield 4-3, and the Elliot Lake Bobcats 5-3.

Friday, the Jacks fell behind 3-0, before storming back with four unanswered goals in the second and third periods. Atte Koopikka led the comeback with 2 third period goals to tie and win the game. Koopikka also had an assist. Mark Wardell made 39 saves in the win with Illes Gallo and Timi Tamminen also scoring goals and David Amnas picking up 2 assists.

Saturday against Elliot Lake, Steeven Nicolet's second goal late in the third period proved o be the winner. David Amnas also scored a goal and had a pair of assists for the Jacks. Maciej Rompkowski scored a goal and an assist. Newcomers Taylor Jackson iced the win with an empty net goal, and Dale Hatfield picked up an assist.