THUNDER BAY -- Jonah DesRosiers may be on a first-place team, but the 21-year-old is doing his best to keep the Lakehead Junior Hockey League season in perspective.
Following the 15-0 Current River Storm victory on Nov. 4 against the Nipigon Elks, the Canmore, Alta. native said he thought they played a little bit shaky at the start.
"But we've proven we can put up offence at any given time. Once we get one goal, it seems like the floodgates are always open. We have to stay levelheaded, take few penalties and take advantage of opportunities on the power play.”
DesRosiers registered three points in the shutout win, and has picked up twenty four points in sixteen games this season.
“I wouldn’t really say that I treat junior hockey any differently today," he said. “Now I’m more of a leader teaching the younger guys, instead of learning myself. I try to teach the younger players to stay levelheaded, be calm on the ice."
DesRosiers began playing junior hockey with the Cochrane Generals of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League, which is made up of 16 teams in southern and central Alberta.
He collected eight points in 35 games before making the trek east and joining the Kam River Fighting Walleye of the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL).
DesRosiers said there weren’t a lot of Alberta kids playing in the SIJHL.
“I knew a few guys growing up that I played against back home, like Carson Gorst and Tyler Ralph. It was nice to have local Alberta boys.”
Gorst comes from Calgary and played in 68 regular season games with the Walleye between 2020 and 2023.
Ralph hails from Grand Prairie and suited up in 24 regular season games before finishing the 2021-2022 season with the Castlegar Rebels of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Ralph is currently playing with the University of Jamestown Jimmies in North Dakota.
There are at least 30 Alberta-born players in the SIJHL, with the Red Lake Miners featuring 13 athletes from Wild Rose Country.
DesRosiers split the 2022-2023 campaign with the Thunder Bay North Stars and Red Lake Miners, registering 16 points in 34 regular season games.
DesRosiers is one of only a handful of players who have played with both the Walleye and the North Stars, joining such players as defenceman Brad Fortier and forwards Evan Lachimea and Hayden Cattani.
In terms of the future, DesRosiers wants to see how far hockey can take him and has the goal of helping the second-year Storm win the LJHL Championship.
