By: John Humphrey , Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeshore News Reporter
In the big picture the LaSalle Vipers had a productive regular season in a changed 2024-2025 Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League landscape and hopes were high that a late season resurgence would carry over into the GOJHL playoffs this spring.
The Vipers finished the regular season with a 29-21-0 record, a mark that was good enough for sixth place in the GOJHL’S Western Conference standings as the team finished in the middle of the conference’s 12 teams.
“This was the first season since the league re-aligned into two conferences and I think that it turned out well for everyone” said LaSalle general manager John Nelson. “It made the league more competitive and fans across the league got to see teams that they normally would not see and that added a lot of enthusiasm in rinks around the league.
“Re-alignment also helped in the development not only of players around the league, but also the coaches,” he added.
The Vipers’ sixth place finish set them up with the second place Stratford Warriors in a GOJHL quarter-final series that began in mid-March. The clubs split the four-game regular season series that saw the home team winning all the contests.
Nelson’s team was the picture of a developing squad as the Vipers iced a lineup that included ten rookie players throughout the course of the regular season. Eighteen players are eligible to return next season but this season’s overage contingent of forwards Zach Vaillancourt, Brendan Gouin and Nicholas Graniero, defenceman Owen Findlay and goaltender Logan Phillips definitely won’t be back.
“We had a young team this season so there were some growing pains,” Nelson admitted. “We were battling for first place in the conference for a while, but then we went into a tailspin for about six weeks leading up to the holiday break,” Nelson admitted. “But then we snapped out of it and went on something of a role heading into the post-season.
“I think the inconsistency we had at some points of the season was due in part to having so many new and young players,” he continued. “But the way the guys battled through things is something that we will be able to build on for the future.”
Among the Vipers impressive crop of rookies this season were forward Julian Gigniac, who lead the team in scoring with 18 goals and 21 assists in 48 games, fellow forward Max Brocklehurst and goaltender Jake Windbiel. All three are Windsor Spitfire draft picks and both Brocklehurst and Windbiel played one game with the OHL team in 2024-2025.
Brocklehurst, coincidentally, was the only LaSalle player to miss significant time due to injury this season as an upper-body problem caused him to play in exactly half of the Vipers’ 50 regular season contests. He did, though, make his return to LaSalle’s lineup with just over a month left in the regular campaign.
Not all first-year Vipers personnel, however, were limited to players as the team had a new coaching contingent behind the bench in 2024-2025. Anthony IaQuinta joined the team as head coach while Jack Bowler and Milan Dobric joined as assistant coaches.
“Anthony joined us from the (Provincial Junior Hockey League) Lakeshore Canadiens where he and (Lakeshore general manager) Mark Seguin built a powerhouse organization that has been a championship contender for seasons,” claimed Nelson. “He instilled a work ethic into our players and treated them with the utmost of respect and he talked to them not only as hockey players but as young men.
“You can tell that he loved his players and they feel the same way about him.”
While IaQuinta finished his first regular season behind the bench in LaSalle in 2024-2025, Dobric Had to resign mid-season due to work committments. He ended up rejoining the Lakeshore Canadiens, whom he had left to join the Vipers. Tyler Mayea replaced Dobric as the Vipers’ assistant coach.
While there was more trade activity in the GOJHL this past season, the Vipers made only two deals. Forward Kade McKeen was picked up from the Komoka Kings while goaltender Phillips came over from the Sarnia Legionnaires as fellow netminder Dante Bertolin was sent to Sarnia.
In the end, the game but over-matched Vipers were swept by the Stratford Warriors in the GOJHL quarter-finals and were outscored 16-5 in the four games. The organization is already looking to the future by holding its prospect camp from April 24-26 at the Vollmer Centre. For more information, visit www.lasallevipers.com
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