By Matt Stefano
Beaups is back!
The Soo Thunderbirds have announced on Friday that forward Daniel Beaupre has re-signed with the team for the 2023-2024 season.
Beaupre, who is a 2003-birth-year forward, will also be entering his final season of junior hockey.
“We are very excited to welcome Daniel back for his final season of junior hockey,” said Soo Thunderbirds assistant coach and general manager Jamie Henderson. “Daniel immediately fit in really well here after we got him in a trade last September, and we’ll be looking for him to have a big season this year.”
In 45 games played with the T-Birds during the 2022-2023 regular season, Beaupre recorded 17 goals and 43 points, and finished tied for fourth in team scoring with Wyatt Marlow (Now graduated).
Back on February 18, Beaupre also recorded five assists in a 15-1 victory over the Cochrane Crunch at the John Rhodes, which tied the Soo Thunderbirds record for most assists by a Thunderbird player in one game, joining Jeff Rainville (2002-2003), Joey Coccimiglio (2002-2003), Brett Perlini (2007-2008), Nick Romano (2010-2011) and Joey Miller (2014-2015).
“I’m very excited to be coming back to the Thunderbirds for one more season,” Beaupre said. “The Thunderbirds are a great organization and I loved living in the Soo last year.”
“This year I’m looking forward to taking a bigger role with the team and being a leader for the younger guys.”
This past season, Beaupre had a pair of five-point games, including a five assist performance back on February 18 against Cochrane, and a three-goal and two-assist performance back on March 10 against Powassan.
Beaupre, who had two five-point games this past season, also became the first T-Bird player to have two five-point games in a single season since Rylan Clemons did back in 2019-2020.
With the return of Beaupre, the Soo Thunderbirds now have five returning players from last years roster, along with Samuel Lake, Alex Remenda, Kolby Fellinger and Kolton Bourret.
NOTE
Beaupre, who will be entering his final season with the T-Birds, came over to the T-Birds in a trade from the Timmins Rock back on September 19, 2022.
Before joining the T-Birds, Beaupre had 3 goals in 5 games as a member of the Rock.
(Photo of Daniel Beaupre credit to Bob Davies)
