Canadiens are once again a PJHL powerhouse in 2024-2025

By: John Humphrey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeshore News Reporter

Success for the Lakeshore Canadiens is not uncommon and it is certainly not unexpected. The reigning Schmalz Cup champions are once again a force to be reckoned as they sit atop of the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s Stobbs Division with a 16-2 record.

The Canadiens are tied for first place in the Stobbs with the Essex 73s, who have an identical 16-2 mark. The two longtime rivals have played three games so far this season with the Canadiens winning both games in Essex while the 73s prevailed in the only contest played at the Atlas Tube Centre in Lakeshore as of press time.

“We’re right where we expected to be. Sometimes you get lucky because you draw up a game plan for success and you get damn near where you wanted to be and that’s exactly where we are,” claimed Mark Seguin, the longtime Canadiens general manager who has been the architect of numerous powerhouse teams from Lakeshore. We’re getting better every week, and I don’t see why that shouldn’t continue for the rest of the regular season and into the play-offs.

“The key is that our core group of players who have been with us for four or five seasons and who have experienced a lot of success have been excellent again for us this season,” he continued, making reference to Trevor Larue, Marco Sladoje, Josh Cyrenne, Eric Bisson and Bryce Scarlett.

“Those guys all have a couple of Schmalz Cup championships under their belts and they have been dynamite and leading the way for the few younger players that we do have,” Seguin continued. “Nicholas Rosati, who was drafted by the Windsor Spitfires as a 16-year-old, has been phenomenal for us.”

The one downside to the Canadiens season thus far in 2024-2025, is that the team has experienced more injuries and players have missed more games than in recent campaigns.

“We haven’t been healthy for much of the season and injuries have hit us a bit more often than usual,” Seguin admitted. “We’ve used some A-Ps (affiliate players) from the Windsor Minor Hockey Association and the Belle River Minor Hockey Association– to come in an help us out while other times we’ve played with a short lineup and gotten through it.”

Seguin was talking to The Lakeshore News in mid-November and said that he was going to address the issue of having a shorter than usual roster by adding a few free agents and perhaps a trade or two before the January 10 league deadline to set rosters. He did say that free agent signings were more likely than trades. One player that was signed was Tyler Trealout who had most recently played with the French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). The 20-year-old native of LaSalle was signed by Seguin because he can play both forward and defence.

“In previous seasons we’ve had players who were healthy scratches sitting up in the stands and we could just insert them into the lineup when needed,” he claimed. “I hope to be able to do this again soon.”

In off-ice team news for the Canadiens, the club’s Christmas party will take place in December and players’ families and players and coaches in addition to other team personnel will be attending.

“We see these events as ways of giving back not only to our players but also their families who are all so dedicated to our team and organization,” Seguin said. “We would not have been able to make so many long play-off runs in recent seasons if everyone wasn’t so focused and on the same page.”

The Canadiens’ annual trip to Montreal for players and other team personnel is scheduled for January 17-19, 2025. In addition to sight-seeing, the trip always includes taking in a Montreal Canadiens home game at the Bell Centre.

Meanwhile, the Lakeshore Canadiens’ Mothers trip took place on November 17 when players’ moms travelled to the game in Dresden against the Kings. The Fathers’ trip is scheduled for January 4 when the Canadiens travel to Mooretown to take on the Flags.

“We usually have about 95 per cent of our players’ parents come out for these trips as it is normally just one or two can’t make it due to work or illness or other commitments,” said Seguin.

These events usually consist of the parents, who travel together on a chartered bus, taking in a drink before the game and then heading to the rink and meeting the players for dinner after the games.

“These trips have been a tradition, and we’ve had some late nights over the years,” Seguin admitted. “It’s always a lot of fun for everyone involved.”

And winning hockey games and championships has become a tradition over the years as well for the Lakeshore Canadiens team and family.