First Nation hockey player thriving with new junior team following December trade

By Sam Laskaris

PEFFERLAW – Connor Sooley’s rookie season in the junior hockey ranks has been a bit like a roller coaster ride.

Sooley, a member of Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, started the 2025-26 campaign with the Caledonia Corvairs, a Junior B squad that competes in the Greater Ontario Hockey League.

By December, however, Sooley had become frustrated with his situation in Caledonia. The club was losing more than it was winning. And Sooley, an 18-year-old left winger, was being utilized sparingly by the Corvairs.

Sooley, who was primarily seeing action on Caledonia’s fourth line, was even a healthy scratch for some outings.

“I ended up requesting a trade back home because the team wasn’t doing well,” said Sooley, who is now a member of the Georgina Ice, a Junior C club that participates in the Provincial Junior Hockey League. “We kept losing. And I was more of I would say like a role player. So, I was just thinking just going back home to maybe a team that’s competing for a championship and get a lot more ice.”

Sooley is a lot happier now with the Ice, which is considered a serious contender for its league title this season.

Plus, he’s able to live at home again. That’s because the home rink for the Georgina squad is a 20-minute drive from Sooley’s home in Pefferlaw.

Sooley is also rather pleased that he’s now playing with several others that he is well familiar with.

“Some of them are my buddies that I’ve known for a while,” he said of his current Ice teammates. “And a lot of them I’ve played with here and there.”

Sooley added several Georgina players, who knew he was not happy in Caledonia, were constantly asking if he was planning to return home.

“The ones that I knew super well, they would text me like every day if I’m coming or what I’m doing,” he said.

Georgina head coach Jon Perrin said the club’s scouting staff had kept tabs on Sooley early on this season.

“Being a local kid, we just inquired to Caledonia about him,” Perrin said. “He was not getting much ice time there. So, he decided to come back and play with us.”

Sooley had an immediate impact with the Ice. He scored the game-winning goal in his first outing with the Ice.

After three games, he was averaging two points per match. And he had earned seven points (two goals and five assists) in his first five matches.

Sooley already surpassed the four points, including three goals, he earned in 19 appearances with the Corvairs.

“It starts with my linemates and just everybody that I’m on the ice with,” Sooley said. “I think I’m playing with a lot better players here. I think Georgina is a really good team up front. So, playing with good players definitely helps a lot.”

Sooley added he had asked Perrin what sort of role he had envisioned for him before joining the Ice.

“I did ask the coach because I kind of felt if I’m leaving (Caledonia), I want to know that I’m going to have a big role,” he said. “So, I asked the coach what he was thinking. And he told me that I would be like a top forward and get powerplay minutes.”

Perrin believes Sooley can continue being a key part of the Georgina roster.

“I think with his skill set and with how hard he works, I think he can he can stay at this pace,” Perrin said. “Everything seems to be clicking right now for him. If that keeps going, that’s better for our team.”

Perrin added Sooley has been in a positive mood since dropping down from the Junior B ranks to play for the Ice.

“He’s been awesome,” he said. “I think he’s excited to be back home and close to his friends. It shows in his gameplay with how happy he is. He fits in the room really well with the guys.”