Photo by Stephen Boyle: (L to R) Otters Head Coach Brandon Janke, Voodoos GM Chris Dawson and Otters Head Scout Dana Loach at Voodoos training camp in Powassan.
The Powassan Voodoos and Huntsville Otters have forged a new affiliation partnership between the junior ‘A’ and junior ‘C’ hockey teams that are separated by less than 100 kilometers along Highway 11.
The two organizations met this summer to discuss the relationship, which will allow players to sign in Huntsville and affiliate with the Voodoos, with the ability to practice and potentially get into junior ‘A’ games this season.
“We’ve seen this work before with Andy Baker back in 2016-17, who played in Huntsville and he went on to score 45 goals for us in our championship season,” noted Chris Dawson, Voodoos GM.
The partnership will still allow Otters and Voodoos players to affiliate with other teams, but the two area teams feel this will bring these two organizations closer together.
“I think what it does from a hockey perspective, it gives the players from our camp who are still looking to move up, it gives them an avenue to play games at a higher level and possibly make that jump in the future,” said Brian Crozier, Huntsville Otters director of hockey operations.
“For our organization, I think that adds another feather in our cap.”
The two organizations have a unique hockey connection as Otters Head Coach Brandon Janke and Voodoos General Manager Chris Dawson won an NOJHL championship together as player and president back in the spring of 2013 with the North Bay Jr. Trappers.
“Obviously, my relationship with Chris Dawson goes pretty far back, and I think it is a no-brainer,” said Janke, who took over the head coaching position with the Otters this off-season.
“The landscape of hockey has changed, and with Powassan pretty much being our Highway 11 neighbours, it allows for a seamless transition between Junior A and Junior C. It gives the players on the verge of making the Voodoos an opportunity to stay close and can still be watched, and it gives the players at our level an opportunity too.”
The Otters become the third hockey organization that the Voodoos have a partnership affiliation with, joining the OHL’s North Bay Battalion and the North Bay AAA Trappers.
