First Nation rookie playing both defence and forward positions with Lumberjacks

By Sam Laskaris

HEARST – As it has turned out, the Hearst Lumberjacks have gotten a bit more out of rookie Royce Abraham than they originally anticipated.

Abraham, a member of Long Lake #58 First Nation, has adequately filled a few roles for the Lumberjacks, a Junior A squad that competes in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL).

Abraham, who is 18, played defence throughout his entire minor hockey career. But with the Hearst club, he has split his time playing both defence and right wing.

“What’s funny is, my first game, at the beginning of the season, I was playing forward and I didn’t know [before],” Abraham said.

The Lumberjacks utilized him as a forward for a handful of other games before moving him back to defence for a while. Since then, Abraham, who is 6-foot and 180 pounds, has spent about an equal amount of time playing right wing and patrolling the blueline for the Lumberjacks.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Abraham said of where the Hearst coaching staff slots him in. “I can play both now. I really like it.”

Abraham earned seven points, including two goals, in his first 23 games with the Lumberjacks.

Though he is in his first full NOJHL season, Abraham was not a stranger to the league. He primarily toiled with the Kapuskasing Flyers’ Under-18 AAA club last season, but he also appeared in six NOJHL games as an affiliate player for the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners.

“After I played against Hearst, when I was with Kirkland Lake, I think they liked what they saw,” Abraham said of the Lumberjacks. “Their manager called me in the summer and they asked if I would like to play, and he gave me like a week [to decide].”

As it turned out, Abraham was keen to join the Hearst team.

The Lumberjacks won 20 of their first 28 games. And Hearst is considered as a contender for the league title this season.

“We have mostly returning players from last year,” Abraham said. “And they almost won [the league] last year. Most of them have come back to try and go for one last run before most of them are aged out.”

Lumberjacks’ general manager Jonathan Blier is pleased to have Abraham on the club’s roster this season.

“Royce brings some poise,” he said. “He always wants to be better and he’s a good listener. He works hard. And he’s a kid that is quiet, but at the same time, he is really respected in the room.”

Blier said Abraham was a player that the club’s brass was keen to land last summer. And he said it’s been a bonus to discover Abraham’s versatility.

“Sometimes he’s played on defence this year,” Blier said. “And he plays sometimes as a forward. He’s effective in all the situations, which is really nice.”

Blier added former Lumberjacks’ player Zack Dorval was Abraham’s billet and coach last year in Kapuskasing.

“Zack thought very highly of Royce and his commitment and the way he behaves himself,” Blier said. “Knowing that off the ice and knowing what he would bring on the ice, we wanted Royce to be part of our program.”

Abraham has two years of junior eligibility remaining after this season. The thought of completing his junior career and then playing at the post-secondary level sounds appealing to Abraham.

“I’d like to do that someday if I can,” he said.

Blier also sees that as a possibility.

“I always say it all depends on what the kid puts into it,” he said. “If you put a lot of work into your three years of junior hockey, then the game is going to reward you eventually. So, I do believe that Royce has potential to go further if he wants to.”