By John Humphrey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeshore News Reporter
The season-ending Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) play-off series loss to the arch-rival Essex 73s in no way overshadows what was another successful regular season and post-season run for the Lakeshore Canadiens.
“We had very good regular season and a very good play-off and we had no bad issues at all,” claimed long-time Canadiens general manager Mark Seguin. “I’ve been with the Canadiens for about twenty years and 90 per cent of the time it comes down to us and Essex in the finals. Sometimes you come out on top and sometimes you don’t, and you have to tip your hat to whoever beats you.
“The competitive side of yourself might get mad if you don’t perform as well as you were planning for but at the end of the day you have to put everything into perspective,” he continued. “For us, we had a great season overall.”
The Canadiens had a stellar 35-7-record in the PJHL’s Stobbs Division in the regular season, finishing in second place only to the 73s and the two powerhouse clubs split the four-game regular season series. A play-off run saw the defending Schmalz Cup champions from Lakeshore sweep their first two post-season series (going 8-0 in the process) before losing to the 73s in six games in the Stobbs Division final.
The Canadiens opened the PJHL playoffs this spring against the Dresden Junior Kings.
“Against Dresden everything went according to plan and we were able to get everyone into the games and we ended it in four straight,” said Seguin. “Dresden gave us a battle, but they were overmatched.”
The Canadiens then took on the Amherstburg Admirals, a team they had not faced in the PJHL playoffs for many years, in the second round of the post season this spring.
“Amherstburg improved a lot over the course of the regular season and they carried that momentum into the playoffs,” said Seguin. “But our talent, depth and experience were huge for us and we were able to sweep them in four games too.”
After eight straight wins, the stage was set for the inevitable showdown with the 73s.
“It was an up and down series for us and we certainly did not play our best at times,” admitted Seguin. “And other times we turned it on and we were very difficult to play against.
“If we reflect on the entire series, it all came down to came four,” he continued. “We were up 2-1 in games and we were coming home and we dominated the first period of game four when we had three breakaways and a four-minute powerplay and we were not able to score.”
The 73s then promptly opened the scoring in the second period enroute to a 2-0 win on March 28 before also taking the next two games to claim the Stobbs playoff crown in six contests.
In the big picture, while the Canadiens did fall short of their usual lofty play-offs goals in the spring of 2025, expect the team to reload quickly for the 2025-2026 PJHL season.
“While we do have 15-16 players who are eligible to return next season, we do lose our top five scorers,” Seguin admitted. “While we will have to add some players who will have to help us out scoring next season, our defence will be strong and and we do have both goalies (Boe Piroski and Hunter Welk) coming back.”
Four of the Canadiens top scorers who are graduating include overage players Trevor Larue, Eric Bisson, Marco Sladoje and Bryce Scarlett while the other high-scoring forward who will not be returning to Lakeshore in the fall is rookie Nicolas Rosati, a Windsor Spitfire draft pick (11th round in 2024) who will likely be playing with the junior b LaSalle Vipers this fall. Defenceman Josh Cyrenne, who also played as an over ager in 2024-2025, has also graduated.
“That core of overage players has been one of the most successful in Canadiens franchise history,” claimed Seguin. “As a group, they won three Stobbs Division titles and two Schmalz Cups.”
Rosati, who scored 25 goals s and added 47 assists in 42 regular season games before notching 20 points in the Canadiens’ 14 post-season contests, also won the first-ever Doug Kennedy Memorial Rookie of the Year Award as the top first-year player in the entire PJHL.
“Nicholas had one of the best seasons for a 16-year-old that I’ve seen in this league for a long, long time,” Seguin claimed. “He is a great player and a great kid.
“He will play at the junior b level as a minimum next season, and I would not be surprised to see him playing for the Spitfires not long after that.”
Next up on the agenda for the Lakeshore Canadiens is the team’s mini-camp.
“We are all set for May 20 and 22 at the Atlas Tube Centre,” said Seguin. “And then we will have another camp at the beginning of August.
“It’s going to be recruit, recruit, recruit this off-season,”
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