The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team goes into the 2015-16 season with a solid number of veterans in the lineup, some exceptionally talented newcomers and a whole new coaching staff.
Captain and 2015 Randy Gregg Award winner Olivier Hinse will be back with the Stingers for his fourth season. In addition to his leadership, the two-time OUA all-star will be relied on the continue racking up points. In 26 games last year, he scored 18 goals and 13 assists for 31 points. His 18 goals ranked him second in CIS.
The Stingers return six of their top seven scorers from 2015-16, including Hinse, Scott Oke, Dany Potvin, Domenic Beauchemin, all who averaged a point a game. Beauchemin was named to the OUA East all-rookie team last spring.
Along with 13 returing players, the Stingers have 13 rookies. A couple of key newcomers to watch are Frederick Roy and Luca Ciampini – both will add significant fire-power to an already potent offence.
The coaching staff has high praise for forwards Charles-Éric Légaré, who has great speed, and Alex Soumakis who has turned heads with his physical play.
Forward Raphael Lafontaine is also a rookie that has impressed with his hard work – something that head coach Marc-André Element puts a lot of emphasis on.
“We will be a team with a strong work ethic,” said Element. “We’re young, we have a lot of offensive weapons, but more than anything else we are a hard working team.”
Finally, long serving coach Kevin Figsby has moved on, and Marc-André Element, one of Concordia’s all-time great players and team captains, has assumed the reins on an interim basis.
Since graduating in 2011, Element has had success coaching at the midget AAA and junior AAA levels. He bring great passion and energy to the program as witnessed by his success recruiting over the short time he had to work since being hired on July 27th.
He’s brought two highly respected former players with him to the team. Jesse Goodsell and Marc-André Rizk will serve as assistant coaches.
The home opener for the Stingers is Friday night when the Windsor Lancers come to the Ed Meagher Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
