THUNDER BAY – Justin Paul plays hockey to chase championships.
The 24-year-old won an ECAC championship is his rookie season with the NCAA’s St. Lawrence Saints, and missed out on a second title last season, dropping the best-of-five ECAC final to Cornell in four games.
Out of eligibility south of the border, the left-winger decided to return home for one last season of university hockey, and don the blades for the Lakehead Thunderwolves, a team he grew up cheering for at Fort William Gardens.
It was an easy call, said Paul, who put up seven goals and 12 assists in 37 regular-season games captaining the Saints last season, a chance to come home and help the Thunderwolves return to contending status, after last year’s disappointing first-round exit from the playoffs.
“It was a great opportunity,” Paul said, breathing heavily after an unofficial captain’s skate on Saturday morning at Port Arthur Arena.
“Growing up, my whole life, it was obviously a great experience to go to Fort William Gardens and I was always a fan. I know a lot of guys on the team too. I trained with them, skated with them, played against them, so I knew they had a good group, a competitive group and a strong team … It was an easy decision to make, putting that all together that I wanted to play one more year here.”
First and foremost, Paul said he brings a winning culture to the dressing room.
“Playing at St. Lawrence, we always wanted to win championships. That was the goal. We made two finals in my four years and this group is that (kind of) competitive group,” Paul said.
“It’s the same nature. We want to win championships. We want to win as many games as possible. It’s an unselfish group with a lot of compete, so I think I bring another wrinkle to that culture, just another guy who wants to emphasize that championship worth ethic and desire to win here.”
Paul, who played four seasons in the Ontario Junior Hockey League before jumping to the NCAA ranks, is one of 11 new faces expected to be in camp with the Thunderwolves to start the 2024-25 campaign.
Coach Andrew Wilkins has revamped the defence, bringing in five recruits, a group led by former Kam River Fighting Walleye star Jack Cook. Tim Porter, Alex Izyk, Luca Fasciano and Wil Murphy round out the group.
Up front newcomers include Paul, Malte Hasselgren, Trentyn Crane, Riely Sharun and Richard Whitaker, the brother of T-Wolves veteran Liam Whitaker.
And in goal, Wilkins has added NCAA transfer Carson Cherapak to the mix, joining a healthy Christian Cicigoi in the battle for the No. 1 goaltender position.
Cicigoi, a third-year veteran limited to eight games last season because of an ankle injury, said there will be an adjustment on and off the ice, but hockey is hockey.
“Honestly, the game stays the same. Our job is the same. We just have to do our best each and every single night. It’s our job as players who have been here before to make the new guys feel welcome and feel like they’ve been here a while,” he said.
“That’s part of the new culture we’re building. I know (Andrew) and all the rest of our coaching staff want to make that our identity.”
The 23-year-old netminder said last season’s result was a huge disappointment, given the team came within a win of a spot at nationals in his rookie year.
Like Paul, that’s where he’d like to see the team wind up in March.
“Obviously our goal, after being so close our first year, is to get back to where we were. We failed to do that last year, but it’s a new year, a new team, with new expectations. We’re just looking to take it one step at a time.”
Lakehead opens at home against Toronto on Oct. 4.
