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Lakers bring in more former Ice Boltz in 2020 recruiting class

'We have always had former Ice Boltz on our team and we have more coming this year and more coming the year after this'
20200422 lakers recruits
Former Ice Boltz Michaela Pressault and Madizon Desmarias are part of the 2020 Lakers recruiting class. Photo submitted.

It's no secret that Darren Turcotte likes his local players and the 2020 recruiting season definitely supports that again. 

The Nipissing Lakers varsity women's head coach is looking to build on an impressive season which ended in a sweep at the hands of the York Lions in the OUA semi-finals.  

The Lakers added four new recruits with two of them from the well-known and respected North Bay Ice Boltz program.  

"We like the North Bay area players," said Turcotte, noting they are getting close to double digits in former Ice Boltz players on the Lakers roster.  

"We have always had former Ice Boltz on our team and we have more coming this year and more coming the year after this so we want to try to continue that trend and keep the local players in North Bay as much as we can." 

Madison Desmarais is one of the two former Ice Boltz that are part of the new Lakers recruiting class. The North Bay product played last season with the Cambridge Rivulettes of the PWHL last season where she netted 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in 36 games last season. 

"She is a very good skater, has very good puck skills and played for Team Ontario Blue at the U-18 National Championships," noted Turcotte about Desmarais.  

"She is a player we went after when she was playing here in North Bay, we liked the way she skated. We feel she is going to be a great asset to our program."

Desmarais is excited about the opportunity and has set a goal of trying to make the OUA All-Rookie team next season.   

"I would like to bring some energy and be an impact player at both ends of the ice and help our team bring home the OUA championships," she said in a release. 

Turcotte also added another former Ice Boltz teammate of Desmarais in the form of forward Michaela Presseault. 

Presseault, who hails from New Liskeard, is a power forward with a strong shot and sees the ice very well.  Last season with the Barrie Sharks of the PWHL, she recorded two goals, four assists for six points in 30 games last year.  

"She is a decent-sized forward coming to us from Barrie's PWHL team and she played midget for the Ice Boltz," said Turcotte.  

"We feel she skates well, she has a physical edge to her game."

In terms of out of towners, Turcotte is adding a New York native who played most of last year playing high school hockey with boys. 

That's Madyson Lebel who Turcotte anticipates will be an aggressive workhorse type player who will be an asset to the team.  

"She reached out to the Lakers program providing video and we had her come up for a visit last summer, and she liked what she saw, and we like what we saw on video," said Turcotte. 

Lebel had two goals and two assists for four points in 19 games with the Guilderland, New York Div. I boys team last season. 

The only defender in the 2020 recruiting class so far is Tessa Kosec who is from Kelowna, B.C.  

Kosec played last season with the Ontario Hockey Academy.  

Turcotte says she is a smart stay at home defender who can clear opponents from the front of the net and is effective at defending two on ones.  

With the Ontario Hockey Academy Tardiff midget squad she had two goals and nine assists for 11 points in 49 games last season. 


Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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