Annual Chatham Maroons roster turnover has begun
David Brown, who has played for the Chatham Maroons the past two seasons, will play for the London Nationals next season. It will be closer for Brown, as he is attending Western University.
Ah June, the kids are finishing up school, the temperature is getting hotter and the annual Chatham Maroons roster turnover is in full-swing.
Division rival London Nationals have signed defensemen Brenden McKay and forward David Brown.
Brown, a Blenheim native, has been a top player for the Maroons, playing the past three seasons. In 112 games he has put up 62 goals and 141 points. A Saginaw Spirit draft pick, Brown played four games for the Memorial Cup champs last year.
McKay, a Chatham native, has played in 79 regular season games the past two years with the Maroons and has been a solid defensemen for the team.
Braeden Burke and Josh Cleary have signed with the Canmore Eagles in the AJHL.
It was Burke’s first season with the Maroons. In 50 games with the Maroons, the Tecumseh resident scored 21 goals and 19 assist for 40 points.
Cleary, from Windsor, was the Maroons’ leading scorer in the regular season. In 49 games he scored 21 goals and added 28 assists for 49 points.
Cleary, Burke and Brown were the Maroons’ three top point-getters last season.
Maroons goalie Kaleb Papineau, defenceman Graydon Jones and forward Jacob Cloutier should also be a part of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit next season. Cloutier is just about a lock to make the team and Jones and Papineau should both challenge for roster spots.
The past few years the Maroons have seen a large turnover of their roster from season to season. There are a number of reasons why. Here are three;
One, the Maroons have usually iced a young roster of promising players. In an effort to move their hockey careers forward, players move on to the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) and the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) and the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL).
This level of hockey is called the tier II Junior A hockey.
Although the talent level is not significantly higher in tier II Junior A than the Maroons’ Junior B league, the move has paid off for a number of players who have moved from Junior B to Junior A and then onto college hockey in the United States. One former Maroon (Warren Clark) was even drafted by the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning after playing in the MJHL for one season.
Additionally, the GOJHL league has been a minor league of sorts for OHL teams. Teams, such as the London Knights and Saginaw Spirit regullary send draft picks to the Junior B league to get more experience and seasoning. Toronto Maple Leafs first-round draft pick Easton Cowan played for the Komoka Kings prior to being drafted into the NHL.
Two, some players move from the Chatham area to pursue post-secondary education across Ontario. They will either quit hockey or join a Junior B team near where they go to university or college. Brown and McKay are both attending Western University in September.
Three, some players in their last year of junior B hockey move down to Junior C hockey.
Perhaps they see the writing on the wall and figure to play in a less competitive environment or with teammates from minor hockey. As an added bonus Junior C hockey players can play an extra year of junior hockey.