By Matt Stefano
Two Flyers have landed in the Bird Nest!
The Soo Thunderbirds have announced on Thursday that they have signed a pair of players out of the Great North Under-18 Hockey League’s Kapuskasing Flyers, including defenceman Kyle Trottier and forward Kelsey Ouellet.
“We are really excited to welcome Kyle and Kelsey and their families to the Thunderbirds program,” said Thunderbirds general manager Jamie Henderson. “Both players were high end graduates of the Great North Under-18 Hockey League and the Kapuskasing Flyers. These were two players we targeted right away who we know were well coached by Sheldon Reasbeck and will be ready to come in and be impact players for this team.”
Trottier, who is a 2003-birth-year defenceman, played the 2019-2020 season with the Kapuskasing Flyers, where he had 4 goals, 10 points and just 8 penalty minutes in 25 regular season games.
The Kapuskasing, Ontario native stands 5’9 and weighs 150 pounds.
“It feels nothing less than amazing to be able to have this opportunity to play for a very successful organization. With the young core we will have, I can’t wait to get started and do something special with it,” said Trottier. “Last year with the Flyers was a true roller coaster ride as we would say. From jumping in and out of lockdowns it became a good development year with having many skill based practices as we were only able to play a few games.
Ouellet, who is a 2003-birth-year forward, played the 2019-2020 season with the Kapuskasing Flyers, where he had 16 goals, 30 points and a team-leading 108 penalty minutes in 38 regular season games.
The Longlac, Ontario native stands 6’1 and weighs 175 pounds.
“It feels amazing to be apart of the Soo Thunderbirds organization. I had no hesitation to sign with them once I heard they were interested in me,” said Ouellet. “I’ve had an amazing experience with the Kapuskasing Flyers. The boys on that team also made my move to Kap so much easier and I wouldn’t change anything about it. Last year wasn’t the year like before because of COVID-19, but I’m happy to have ended my minor hockey career with the Flyers and I’m now looking forward to starting my junior career with the Soo Thunderbirds.
(Photos of Trottier and Ouellet credit to Christophe S. Simard)
