By Joshua Boyd / USPHLPremier.com
The United States Premier Hockey League is previewing each Premier Division ahead of their start dates in the 2024-25 season. Check back each weekday to see which Premier division is up next!
College Universel Gatineau
Season Opener: Sept. 7 vs. Somang Laurentides Lanaudiere
The College Universel Gatineau is the only member of the Canada Division that has played a season in the USPHL Premier, making its debut in 2023-24. Gatineau put up a winning season and finished fourth in a very tough New England Division, especially considering that every one of their games last year was played in the U.S., with no home games. Now, Gatineau has five new fellow Canadian teams forming the Premier’s first international division. Gatineau is excited for the opportunity to get started once again in the USPHL Premier.
“It’s great. We think that this new division is going to open up doors for Quebec-born players,” said Universel Hockey Director Alexandre Gagnon. “We want to develop players and send as many as possible to higher levels.”
They did just that last year. Leading scorer Louis Ouellet advanced to NCAA hockey with Westfield State University, and sent the majority of their other players to higher-level junior teams.
So the Gatineau squad will in essence be a fully new team for 2024-25, along with their Canada Division teams. They wil be playing under the watchful eye of NHL alum Darren Rumble, Head Coach for the team, and Deric Boudreau, Director of Player Development and a longtime skills coach for pro hockey players.
They do have Mathias St-Laurent, an ‘05 defenseman from Amos, Que., who comes in with a full USPHL Premier season already under his blades. Another player who will be looked at closely by scouts this year is Thomas St. Louis, an ‘07 player who was drafted in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He joins from the Gatineau L’Intrepide 18U AAA team.
Hawkesbury Knights
Season Opener: Sept. 7 vs. Montreal Black Vees
The Hawkesbury Knights are excited to make their USPHL Premier debut, and NHL alum Shawn Anderson – the team’s General Manager and Head Coach – believes he has a squad that can make a ton of noise in the first-year Canada Division.
“I really like the makeup of our roster and I am looking forward to seeing the team in action on the ice,” Anderson said. “Our expectations for this season is to be competitive every game and learn through our mistakes to keep improving throughout the season.”
Anderson has previously worked with Le Sommet Academy, also located in Hawkesbury, and coached his first USPHL games with Le Sommet as the Faucons took part in USPHL Elite showcases last year.
“Since the announcement of the Canada Division six months ago, we have been at full speed in regard to scouting and recruiting, seeing over 1,000 players through league games in the late winter months and spring/summer showcases,” Anderson said. “Our roster count at the moment is 22 but we are currently speaking to more players to bring that number up to the 30-man max.”
Last year, ‘04 goalie Jeremie Barron was the top goalie in the North American Prep Hockey League, and he’s now joining the Knights. Gabriel Francois, an ‘06 forward, is another who will quickly earn scouts’ attention. Anderson expects much of the roster to land on the younger side in this first USPHL Premier season.
“The Hawkesbury Knights will have a noticeable number of younger players in their lineup this season that they will rely on to be major contributors to our team’s success,” Anderson said. “There are too many to name as they are all solid players with consistent play on both sides of the puck. I am very excited to see this group perform this season.”
Kingston Wranglers
Season Opener: Sept. 21 at College Universel Sherbrooke
The Wranglers have set up camp at the head of the St. Lawrence River as it exits Lake Ontario on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. The Kingston squad’s Head Coach Mark Major, who enjoyed a lengthy pro career that included the NHL, stated the team’s first-year goals pretty simply.
“The Kingston Wranglers’ overall expectations are very simple: be as competitive as we can, with hopes of winning the Canada Division,” added Major.
The Wranglers, like five other teams in the division, announced their formation and intent to join the USPHL in February. They had to scratch and claw in an obviously hockey-rich market in Canada, but they are confident that they’ve brought in very powerful players to help them attain their previously stated goal as well as attract the attention of higher level junior and college coaches.
“Over the last six months it has been a roller coaster ride. With so many junior teams in Ontario fighting for the same players, it’s been difficult recruiting,” said Major. “There have been hours of phone calls, e-mails and Zoom calls with families promoting our brand and we have been blessed to find some players. With higher junior leagues still holding camps, we are confident once they are over, our team will be complete.”
The team has several players currently testing the higher level junior waters, but Major did add that he likes the team’s goaltending duo of ‘04’s Ari Panostkitsis and Josh Bordeaux. There are other, younger players who are joining who should also make their presence known out of the gate beginning Sept. 7.
“As for young players to watch, I would say all of them, as we are confident they will make an impact in achieving our goals,” Major added.
Montreal Black Vees
Season Opener: Sept. 7 at Hawkesbury Knights
Claude Fortin and the Black Vees organization got a good look at what to expect in the USPHL Premier when they attended showcases where Premier teams were competing alongside the USPHL Elite. In their Elite showcase games last year, the College St-Jean-Vianney (CSJV) Black Vees put up a fantastic performance in going 11-1. He certainly hopes that the first-year Montreal Black Vees can register a similar sonic boom in the USPHL Premier, while maintaining their primary focus on a good education at CSJV.
“The Black Vees always assemble a talented and quick-playing team and this is what is to be expected for the upcoming 2024-25 season,” said Fortin, the Black Vees Hockey Team Owner and General Manager. “We always play a mix of young talent and seasoned veterans, working on the continuation of the program. Other than that, all of our players are full-time students and we will expect them to succeed with their academics, which is the main driver of our program. However good you are, if you don’t study full-time, you are not playing for the Black Vees.
“The progression [since February] has been phenomenal. Although there is much education to be made about the USPHL in Canada, we were able to make headway and assemble a team with which we are very confident,” Fortin added. “Our marketing campaign was a provincial success and as our arena is in the middle of a residential neighborhood with a church and high school, working with local authorities will generate organic interest in the team and create our fan base.”
The Black Vees of the Premier boast a healthy mix of junior-experienced veterans and players coming up from last year’s Elite CSJV Black Vees team. Among those with USPHL experience are Loudéric Cloutier, Loïc Drapeau and William St-Denis.
“These players and our former Elite CSJV players will bring league experience to our roster and set the tone for what is expected of the rest of the Vees,” Fortin added.
The Black Vees will also field what Fortin sees as incredibly strong future high level junior and college prospects.
“Scouts should be on the look-out for our ‘08 goalie Noah Saint-Phard, who is not only a great goalie prospect, but a top academic player with a 4.0 GPA. He is an amazing kid that should attract the eyes of most Ivy League scouts this season,” added Fortin. “Other rookies like ’07’s Olivier Sirois, Charles-Émile Clermont and Mathis Marleau should also be on the radar of NCDC and NCAA scouts.”
Somang Laurentides Lanaudiere Hockey Club
Season Opener: Sept. 7 at College Universel Gatineau
The Somang squad, based in Saint-Anne-des-Plaines, Que. (about 25 miles northwest of Montreal), is hungry to show higher-level junior and college scouts the great talent the USPHL now has in both Canada and the United States while being tough competition in the new division.
“Our expectations for the season are rooted in our long-term aspirations as a franchise in the USPHL Premier. Being an inaugural season team, our focus will be on developing an identity and playing a brand of hockey that brings the best out of our players and helps them develop and grow into the players they are aiming to be,” said Head Coach Andre Marais. “Our compete level will be high and we’ll be difficult opponents to play against, night in and night out. For us, results are a by-product of this process and we believe we are going to be competitive.”
Somang L-L Hockey, like other teams, has remained incredibly busy since the February announcement, while also having the convenience of an existing strong youth program from which to recruit.
“It has been a good experience for us all. Having an established and successful youth program has paid dividends. Our brand is established at the youth level, so it was just a matter of branching out,” said Marais. “We built on our existing relationships with our partners both locally and abroad to bring in players from all corners of the world, further cementing the international nature of our program.”
Newly joining the Somang team as junior-experienced players are USPHL veteran Tristan Reid (out of Grand Remous, Que.) and Norwegian import Sander Selvaer, a two-year EHL veteran.
Donovan Odige, an ‘07, joins the Premier team from their youth program, while Caleb Rashleigh (‘06) joins from the Western Kings 18U AAA program. “Both are exciting young talents to keep an eye on,” Marais added.
Universel Sherbrooke
Season Opener: Sept. 14 at Somang Laurentides Launaudiere HC
Essentially everything about Universel Sherbrooke is new, even if the College Universel institution has a history with the USPHL.
“We have just created a new campus with a new school so it’s a lot of things to prepare but we are excited,” said Universel Hockey Director and Sherbrooke Head Coach Alexandre Gagnon. “This new division will become part of the elite hockey in Canada, so we are proud of that.”
Universel Sherbrooke has been active in building the new squad, and they are planning to bring a mix of speed and grit to the ice.
“We want to be a fast-paced team with the puck and be a tough team to play against physically. We are a development program, so we are not about winning or losing, but more about the way we play within our habits and making sure the players get better as the season goes,” Gagnon added.
The team does have some USPHL experience on its roster, as both Nathan Pelletier and Simon Thibault played with the College Universel Gatineau team last year.
“We also have some European players with good junior experience,” Gagnon said.
Arthur Sevigny joins Sherbrooke from College Universel’s 18U team, and is “a tough defenseman to play against.” Alessandro Crivellari, an ‘07 with a good skill set joins from Italy’s Aosta 19U program.
