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TOTASPORTSQUINTE.CA
TRENTON GOLDEN HAWKS
Season Preview
By: Jeff Gard Total Sports Media
March 2020 was set to feature another series in the long rivalry between the Trenton Golden Hawks and Wellington Dukes. The series was postponed and never got underway before the rest of the Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs were cancelled. The Dukes and Golden Hawks had finished atop the regular season standings with 88 and 84 points, respectively. “You go back and look at all the guys we had...that whole crew was a great team,” said Golden Hawks head coach and general manager Peter Goulet, noting players like Griffen Fox and goalie Anand Oberoi. “People are still talking to me about that. It’s probably been a long time since Trenton and Wellington have been 1-2 in the league and everyone was really excited for that series. Smitty (Dukes head coach Derek Smith) had put together a good team over there too in Wellington and it would’ve been special.”
Some of the players aged out of junior hockey, but for others there were conditions on the trades that the players return to Trenton for the OJHL 2021-22 season. Bancroft and Butler, heading into their fourth junior A seasons, and Jacob, for his third, are back with the Golden Hawks. “It’s all a ton of experience and at the junior A level it’s very important to have on your hockey team,” Goulet said. “All of them are leaders and they’re going to have a huge impact on our team this season.” Bancroft and Butler will serve as co-captains this season. Goulet noted Bancroft is Trenton’s longest-tenured player, is local and has a lot of upside following in the footsteps of his father Steve, who played 16 seasons of professional hockey. “There’s a lot of pedigree there, the guys all like him and respect him,” Goulet said. “He has the right demeanour for it.” Butler was also named a captain due to his experience and the intangibles he brings to the Golden Hawks a tough defenceman with offensive upside. “I think we’re going to see a great year from Brannon,” Goulet said. “He’s going to bring a lot of physical play and be able to put up some numbers and score some goals and help lead our hockey team from the back-end.” Continued next page ...
Photo By: Amy Deroche/ OJHL Images Anand Oberoi #1 of the Trenton Golden Hawks
While the two teams met in a number of exhibition games during 2020-21 when there was no OJHL regular season, but it wasn’t the same. Goulet traded a number of players away from Trenton to give them an opportunity to play regular competitive hockey elsewhere, including a number of them to the Maritime Junior Hockey League. Dalton Bancroft, Marko Jakovljevic and Fox were traded to the MHL’s Amherst Ramblers, Kyle Robinson and Stefan Dobrich to the Yarmouth Mariners and Julian Jacob to the Grand Falls Rapids. Brannon Butler was dealt to the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
Photo By: Ed McPherson / OJHL Images Dalton Bancroft #24 of the Trenton Golden Hawks tries to keep the puck from Cole McGuire #24 of the Wellington Dukes
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