The Espanola Express have signed 4 American players for the upcoming 2015-2016 NOJHL season. The Express are allowed to sign a total of 6 U.S. players in for the season. We expect to fill our last two cards at our main camp on August 20-23.
Making Espanola Express history as the first player to ever sign with the franchise, is returning 6’0″ 200lbs, 20 year old defenceman Daniel Nicholas. Hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada, Daniel will be returning for his second year in Espanola under coach McCarthy. “Daniel was a steady rock for us last year both on and off the ice, He is an all around great player who will be a huge asset on our blue line,” stated GM Chad Clarke. “Danny sees the ice well and was a fan favourite last year, it’s great to have a character guy like that back for this season,” expressed co-coach Jason Rapcewicz.
Playing net for the Express this season will be goalie phenom Aaron Callan. Aaron is a 5’11” 175lbs 19 year old who comes to Espanola from South Lyon Michigan. Aaron played for the Toledo Cherokees of the NA3HL last year as a top net minder, recieving the league wide award as goalie of the month in September. “Aaron posted some great numbers last year and we expect him to continue his winning ways here with us”, claimed Clarke. Aaron posted a 2.31 GAA and a .920 save percentage in 21 games with the Cherokees. “We saw Aaron, who was a stand out at a NAHL camp we were scouting and new he was the goalie who was capable of stealing games for us and he will give us stability in net”, boasted Rapcewicz.
http://na3hl.com/news/story.cfm?id=12270
Bringing some Dynamic skill up the middle is Aaron Roschinsky, a 5’10” 175lbs 19 year old speedy, scoring center from Canton Michigan. Aaron also played for the Toledo Cherokees last year posting 24 points in 32 games with the Cherokees. Aaron has speed and skill and we are expecting him to have a break out year offensively this year. “He has some great hockey smarts and sees the ice well, he plays a gritty game and we expect him to become a fan favourite pretty quickly”, expressed Clarke.
Adding more scoring to The Express is Ian Thompson a 2 year team leading scorer, All-STATE 2nd team all-star team, team MVP and 1st player to play all 3 years of eligibility at Kenora Hills High School. Ian is a 2 point per game player and scored 26 goals and 23 assists in 25 games. “Ian is a highly skilled forward with strong scoring capabilities. We expect Ian to put alot of numbers up on the board for us this year”, said Clarke. “The best thing about Ian is he is an 18 year old who will continue to develop and continually get better with us for the next 3 years”, expressed Racewicz. Ian is the second generation of a strong NOJHL pedigree as he is the younger brother of 2014 Kirkland Lake NOJHL champion Everett Thopmson.
Stay tuned for more many Express signings to come as we prepare for our main training camp which will be held in Espanola from August 20-23. Friday and Saturday night of the main camp will feature inter squad games which will be open to the public free of charge. Our first exhibition game will be on Friday August 28th in Elliot Lake, The wildcats will then come to Espanola on Saturday August 29th at 2:00pm. Exhibition season will continue the follwing Friday Sept 4th in Espanola against the Blind River Beavers at 7:00pm. The Express will then travel to Blind River for the last preseason game Saturday September 6th at 7:30pm.
Volunteers and billet families are still required, if interested please contact Sarah Clarke at teamespanolaexpress@gmail.com
