Lannin signs with Rockets
The North Dundas Rockets’ general manager, Rob Sadler announced the signing of Chesterville native, Brett Lannin. Lannin played for the Winchester Hawks in 2016-17 and moved to Elliott Lake to play Junior A with the Wildcats in the NOJHL. Moore file photo

Rob Sadler, GM

North Dundas Rockets

CHESTERVILLE—The North Dundas Rockets have had a busy off-season so far, starting with the acquisition of Chesterville native Brett Lannin from the Elliot Lake Wildcats of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (Junior A). Lannin, a former Winchester Hawk prior to heading to the NOJHL was captain of the Wildcats’ Junior A team last season, recording 19 points in 48 games from the blue line. A 6’ 2”, 200 lbs. defenseman will bring a tremendous boost to an already strong Rockets’ back end, which consists of former Casselman Vikings’ captain, Brady Cloutier, Brodie Barkley, Cameron Brown and Pierce Egan. 

As general manager of the club, I couldn’t be happier that we were able to get a deal done to bring Brett home to Chesterville for his final two years of Junior hockey. The back end of this team is definitely shaping up to be the anchor of our club. Four of our five signed defenseman have played Junior A, which should give us loads of experience and depth.

Another addition who will be joining the organization this season will be Zenin Biron, a 10th round draft pick of the Cornwall Colts in 2016, who was acquired in a trade with the Morrisburg Lions that saw long time Rocket Tanner Barnett head their way in hopes of adding some depth to the Lions’ defence. It’s always tough when you trade a player who has been with our team for a couple of seasons. Tanner and his family were great supporters of the Rockets and on behalf of the hockey team, I would like to personally thank them for their effort and dedication. Unfortunately, as is the case in Junior hockey, the Lions felt Tanner could help them on D; and our team was in the market for a power forward like Biron to fill a need up front; so we made a deal.

Brady Cloutier and Joel Hunt, two former members of the Casselman Vikings will be joining the Rockets for their overage year. Embrun natives, both have enjoyed considerable success in Casselman winning multiple championships and playing large roles on that team. Cloutier, a defenseman who played Junior A in Kanata before signing with the Vikings, has recorded 92 career points in 92 games with Casselman. Joel Hunt has been a Viking for the past three seasons recording 179 pts. in 141 career CCHL2 games; he was also the team’s leading scorer last season with 30 goals and 32 assists totalling 62 pts. The Rockets look forward to having both play as members of the organization.

Former Chesterville Flyer, Chris Vanbridger will also be coming on board with the Rockets as the new head of player development. Vanbridger, a Winchester native and resident, played AA Hockey growing up in the Cornwall organization before graduating to the Chesterville Flyers Junior C program in 1988; following that year, he played for the Morrisburg Lions before moving to Western Ontario where he played three years with the Port Stanley Junior Lakers. We are looking forward to having Chris join our group and be able to give us a hand evaluating players on the ice.

Also of note, former Rocket goaltender Reilly Tondreau will be joining the team as an assistant coach; as GM, I felt it was a good idea to keep a younger guy like Reilly involved. Reilly is keen to help and learn and will help provide a nice bridge between the players on the team, the coaching staff and the organization.

Rockets would also like to announce formally that Chesterville native Brodie Barkley will be the club’s captain this upcoming season. The assistant captains will be headed by another local product from South Mountain, Jarrett Williams. Shoring up the final two spots will be Cameron Brown and sniper Justin Lefebvre. Ultimately, this is a great group of kids to have been leading the way for us; not to mention that Lannin was captain of his Junior A Wildcats’ team up north. Cloutier was captain of his CCHL2 team last season and also Hunt was an assistant captain of that team as well. Our leadership group is real solid moving into the 2019-2020 season.

The Rockets will also host the annual kids’ Skills and Drills camp starting on Mon., Sept. 2, at the Winchester Arena. The camp will be made available to all age groups and will again feature players from the Rockets’ team in the on-ice instruction and help. Anyone interested in returning again this year for the camp please contact Dayna Young at ndrockets@outlook.com or via cell phone, 613 612 3481.

Looking forward to the fall already… hope the North Dundas Community has had a positive summer up to this point.