This past weekend, North Bay native Reece Proulx helped his Pembroke Lumber Kings go 2-0-0 in wins over Kemptville and Brockville. He allowed just two goals on 75 shots and that performance was recognized by the Central Canada Hockey League as they gave the rookie netminder the CCM Player of the Week honours.
“It’s a pretty good honour, it means a lot. But I think a lot of it has to do with our team and the way we played,” Proulx said over the phone.
“We played really well and ended Brockville’s 15 game winning streak and I’m glad I could help with that.”
Proulx says the team was looking forward to stopping the lengthy winning streak of the Brockville Braves.
“They beat us a couple of times already in the season and Sunday night’s a pretty busy night in Pembroke and we always want to put together a good show for the home crowd so we thought that would be the best night to do it, and end that streak.”
Proulx is having a great rookie season in the CCHL. He has posted a 12-12-0 record with a 2.61 Goals Against Average which is the fifth-best GAA in the league going into this weekend's action, and 0.926 save percentage that puts him second in the league in that category. He also picked up a shutout in a 35 save performance against a talented Ottawa Junior Senators club.
He’s also been called up to play with the team that drafted him 209th overall in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection, the North Bay Battalion.
“That was awesome,” he says of the experience.
“It was really cool to put on that jersey that I’ve been wanting to for a while now. It’s cool being a hometown kid and that was a really fun experience, maybe not the way I wanted it to go, but it was fun.”
For Proulx, it wasn’t just the travel that was eye-opening (they played their Michigan swing that weekend, losing to Flint, Saginaw, and Sault Ste. Marie) but the speed and skill of the game as well.
“The guys are obviously bigger, and their shots are better and they don’t really miss. Sometimes here, guys will miss open shots or easy shots, but in the OHL, they will make you pay for what you do. You really have to stay on top of everything.”
His coach with the Lumber Kings, Alex Armstrong, says that kind of test is very beneficial for any player of Proulx’s age, “We tell all the kids that when they get the opportunity to go to the OHL it is a different animal. Those guys can pick a corner, they can shoot a puck and they can go side to side pretty quick.”
He says the award just backs up the fact that Proulx is a kid who understands the process one has to go through in order to be successful in their sport.
“I think it’s like any individual athlete who thanks his teammates, but that’s just him being humble. That’s the type of kid he is and he put in the hard work throughout the summertime and through the first four months of the season, and it’s being recognized and all the credit goes to him. He shows up every day, puts in the work and stops pucks and sometimes he makes saves where you shake your head and think to yourself, I’m not sure how he got that, but we’re sure happy he made that save.”
“He gives us a chance to win every night,” Armstrong says. “He’s a really good kid in the room. He’s very quiet and he came very highly recommended by (Battalion Head Coach and General Manager) Stan Butler and (Battalion Assistant Coach/GM) Adam Dennis and they were right in their assessments. He’s a real competitor that loves to win.”
Proulx was born June 6, 2002, just over two months after the North Bay Centennials played their final game in the Gateway City, which means the Battalion is the only OHL team he has ever watched in his local rink, Memorial Gardens. Proulx says it was a dream come true to get a call from the Battalion on draft day last April.
“I was watching the draft with my family and saw my name come up on the board. We were really excited, especially when it said Battalion.
“It was a surreal feeling,” he says when discussing the franchise moving from Brampton to North Bay. “I remember everyone was so excited to have OHL hockey back here.”
The CCHL remains a very strong developmental league towards the OHL. Battalion fans will recognize names such as Jared Steege, Riley Bruce, Zach Shankar and Zach Poirier as players who made the transition from the level where Proulx is currently playing.
More recently, Simon Rose, and rookie Kyle Jackson are two current members of the North Bay roster that played some time in the CCHL before or just after getting drafted by the OHL club.
Armstrong says no matter what league, the thing every hockey player needs is reps, and that’s what Proulx is getting while starting for the Lumber Kings, “You have to go to where you’re going to play to get better. We are very fortunate that we got Reece this year, and even last year, Kyle Jackson got an opportunity to play in Ottawa.”
He adds, “To play as a goaltender in that league, you must be pretty elite. He knows he’s got a lot of work ahead of him and at the end of the day, you can be the best goalie around but if you don’t get the job done come training camp and exhibition you might get beat out of a job. But I think he’s confident in what he wants, and that’s to win one of those two spots.”
