Joel Senecal on the road again

Joel Senecal (left) helps out during Peewee 'AAA' tryouts at Pete Palangio arena. Photo by Chris Dawson.

Joel Senecal may be the first ever North Bay area hockey player to be part of four major junior hockey teams, in three provinces, in less than one year.

The former North Bay Trappers scoring star finished his first full year in the ‘Q’ this spring after being named Great North Midget League’s MVP the season before where he racked up 31 goals and 60 assists in 36 regular season games in ’06-’07.

It was a year full of relocation that started in Brampton of the Ontario Hockey League last summer and ended in June in Bathurst, New Brunswick.

Senecal was hoping to go to Drummondville of the Quebec League for their training camp, but before he could go to that he had to clear waivers through the Ontario Hockey League. That brought Senecal to Brampton for their training camp – a place with very little opportunity for the Sturgeon Falls native.

“It was a good experience,” admitted Senecal who was recently helping out at the North Bay Peewee ‘AAA’ tryouts.

“Brampton tuned me up for Drummondville. There was only one forward spot available in Brampton. Stan Butler was a classy guy and he released me to Drummondville right away.”

But the Drummondville experience only lasted 21 regular season games when he was traded closer to home to the Val-d’Or Foreurs just before the Christmas break.

In his rookie year Senecal finished with 3 goals and 5 assists in 47 games. Then on Quebec League draft day (June 6th) Senecal was sent packing again, this time to Bathurst, New Brunswick to join the Titan.

He's hoping to re-discover his scoring touch in Bathurst and maybe stick around for longer than just 2 or 3 months.

“I’m going to Bathurst and they’ve got a young team and the coach down there is really great and I’m really excited to go there,” he said about his new home.

“It’s in New Brunswick and I hear the people are really nice down there so I can’t wait for that.”

While moving around through four organizations in a year wasn’t what Senecal was hoping for in his first season – he still admits it was a great experience, but moving around and learning different systems on each of those teams was tough.

“I’ve got a lot of experience now, I know what to do and the veterans told me a bunch of things and I’m still working on my quick feet this summer and I should be fine,” he said.

“I mean I hope I get as much ice time as possible.”

The former Trapper and North Bay Bantam ‘AAA’ Athletics forward says he’s glad to see North Bay add another level of ‘AAA’ hockey. He hopes it helps develop more local players who can move on to Major Junior Hockey and beyond.

“I think this is really good for the kids, you know Sudbury and the Soo are always great competing and at the top of the league and with this new Peewee ‘AAA’ North Bay is finally going to be on top of AAA hockey especially when you have guys like John Couch he really helped me out a lot when I was with the Trappers and a guy like Randy Edmonds too, it’s just perfect for the kids,” he said.

With the graduation of Matt Marquardt to the pro ranks, Senecal is currently the only North Bay trained player on a QMJHL roster. He hopes things like the Peewee ‘AAA’ program will help develop more local players who can move on to Major Junior Hockey and beyond.