Graduating Indigenous star forward weighs options for future hockey career
By Sam Laskaris
POWASSAN— It’s certainly not the way Gregory Trudeau-Paquet thought his junior career would end.
Trudeau-Paquet, a member of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, was a star forward this season with the Powassan Voodoos, members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL).
Trudeau-Paquet finished third in the NOJHL scoring race after racking up 84 points (32 goals and 52 assists) in 46 regular season contests.
Trudeau-Paquet, who turned 21 in February, was one of seven Powassan players in their final season of junior eligibility.
Trudeau-Paquet and his teammates felt confident they could win a couple of championships this season and participate in the national Junior A tournament, which had been scheduled for Portage la Prairie in Manitoba this May.
But COVID-19 concerns forced hockey leagues around the world to abruptly suspend operations earlier this month.
Hockey Canada, the sport’s governing body in the country, later announced all of its leagues and national tournaments had been cancelled for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.
“I think we could have gone all the way this year,” Trudeau-Paquet said. “I don’t know about winning the Canadian tournament but I think we could at least have competed there.”
Powassan was a favourite to capture the NOJHL title. The Voodoos had registered a league-best 45-9-1-1 regular season record in their 12-team league.
Powassan had earned an opening-round bye for its league playoffs. And when NOJHL action was suspended, the Voodoos had just found out they were scheduled to face the Cochrane Crunch in a best-of-seven East Division semi-final series.
In order to advance to the national tournament, the Voodoos would have been required to not only win the NOJHL title but also take top honours at a four-team regional qualifying event, the Dudley Hewitt Cup, which was scheduled to begin in the northwestern Ontario town of Fort Frances late next month.
On Friday afternoon, Trudeau-Paquet said the Hockey Canada decision from Mar. 13 to cancel all leagues and national tournaments had yet to sink in for him.
“There’s a million questions we all have and are all wondering what could have been,” he said.
Trudeau-Paquet said he has been in regular contact not only with his Powassan teammates but also with junior players throughout Canada.
The NOJHL is one of 10 Junior A leagues that make up the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
“I probably know a guy in every league,” Trudeau-Paquet said. “I text them all the time.”
Trudeau-Paquet left Powassan shortly after it was announced the Voodoos season was officially over. He spent the majority of the week visiting family and friends in Sudbury. He is expected to return to his Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory home next week.
There had been some talk Hockey Canada officials should make an exemption and allow those who were in their final season of junior hockey eligible to return for the 2020-21 campaign.
“I wouldn’t mind if they would let some boys come back and do that,” Trudeau-Paquet said. “Coming back and having the chance to win the league would be awesome.”
The chances of that happening, however, would undoubtedly be slim.
Trudeau-Paquet, however, does have some other future options he can explore should he choose to continue playing hockey.
Three professional squads in Germany have expressed some interest in his services. These franchises compete in the third and fourth highest levels of pro hockey in Germany.
Trudeau-Paquet said the offers from the German squads were presented several months ago.
“I got those probably in the middle of the season,” he said. “They just told me to take my time with it. I’m pretty undecided right now. I’m going to wait and see how the summer goes.”
Trudeau-Paquet said numerous post-secondary schools throughout Canada and the United States that have also indicated interest in him. But at this point, he is not too keen to take that route.