Photo: Northern Lights Photography
SUDBURY, Ont. – Among the four games on Friday’s Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) playoff docket will be the opener of Hearst Lumberjacks – Espanola Paper Kings quarter-final series at Claude Larose Recreation Centre.
The two sides have not met in on-ice action since back in late October.
It will also mark the first time the clubs will face each other since a big transaction in December that saw Espanola ship a trio of high profile players, in forwards Cameron Menard and Luc Warner, along with goaltender Jack Helkie, to Hearst in exchange for a trio of Player Development Fees.
A total of 17 points separated them in the league standings, with Hearst holding the upper hand to earn home ice advantage in the match-up.
Here’s a look at the Lumberjacks and Paper Kings heading into the best-of-seven affair:
SEASON RECORDS
Lumberjacks: 36-13-0-3 (3rd overall)
Paper Kings: 27-21-1-3 (6th overall)
HEAD COACHES
Lumberjacks: Guy Losier
Paper Kings: Jason Rapcewicz
HEAD-TO-HEAD: After Espanola won big in their initial meeting on the campaign in the opening weekend of the season, Hearst reeled off three straight triumphs to claim the season set.
The Paper Kings did outscore the Jacks by a 18-17 count.
RESULTS
Sept. 13: @ Espanola (Paper Kings 8, Lumberjacks 2)
Sept. 14: @ Espanola (Lumberjacks 5, Paper Kings 2)
Oct. 25: @ Hearst (Lumberjacks 4, Paper Kings 3)
Oct. 26: @ Hearst (Lumberjacks 6, Paper Kings 5)
SERIES SCHEDULE
NOJHL quarter-final
No. 3 Hearst Lumberjacks vs. No. 6 Espanola Paper Kings
Best-of-seven series
Game 1: Friday, March 20 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Recreation Centre)
Game 2: Saturday, March 21 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Recreation Centre)
Game 3: Tuesday, March 24 @ Espanola 7:30 p.m. (Regional Recreation Complex)
Game 4: Wednesday, March 25 @ Espanola 7:30 p.m. (Regional Recreation Complex)
Game 5*: Friday, March 27 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Recreation Centre)
Game 6*: Sunday, March 29 @ Espanola 7 p.m. (Regional Recreation Complex)
Game 7*: Tuesday, March 31 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Recreation Centre)
*-if necessary
THE TEAMS
THE LUMBERJACKS: Hearst went 36-13-0-3 during the regular season and 5-5 in their final 10 games. … Their 75 points tied them with Powassan for the second highest in the league, but the Voodoos ended up with the No. 2 seed over them by virtue of their head-to-head tiebreaker. … The Lumberjacks were tabbed 18th in the final CJHL Top 20 Rankings – Fuelled by Gatorade. … The club went 19-6-0-1 as the home team on the year and were 17-7-0-2 as the visitors. … They tied for second overall in goals scored at 251 and sat fifth in the most allowed at 184. … Hearst ended up fifth in the NOJHL while on the power play at 23.9% and their 76.1% clip on the penalty kill had them in seventh spot. … They did tally 49 times on the man advantage and collected 11 while shorthanded. … When scoring first in a game, the Lumberjacks went 27-4-1. … They were all but unbeatable when leading after one period, boasting an impressive run of 24-0-1-0. … They were even better when up after 40 minutes, sporting a 31-0-1-0 mark.
FORWARDS: Led by 102-point man Mathieu Comeau, the contributions of the veteran centre led the NOJHL scoring. … He was also tops in assists in the league with 69 … Comeau’s 316 regular season points are the eighth highest in NOJHL history. … Cameron Menard led the league in goals with 45 while his 84 total points placed him fourth among all skaters. … Since being shipped to Hearst back in December, Menard scored 15 times and assisted on 14 others for 29 points in 24 games after notching 30 markers and aiding on 25 others in his time with Espanola this season. … As for Warner, he collected 25 points in 23 match-ups with the Jacks after having 17 in 17 for the Paper Kings. … Seventh all-time in NOJHL games played with 219, Chase Thompson had another solid campaign in 2025-26. … He was fifth in league scoring, accumulating 76 in total on 27 tallies and 49 helpers, which were also fifth overall. … Fellow forward Ty McKay was well over a point-per-game with Hearst, picking up 71 in 52 outings. … He tied for the team-lead with a trio of shorthanded markers and supplied a half-dozen game-winning goals, while incurring just 10 penalty minutes, which was a team-low among full-time skaters.
DEFENCE: In his third full season on the Hearst blueline, Julien Trudel led the team offensively from the back end. … Trudel picked up 36 points on the campaign, which was a personal best, as were his 10 goals and 26 assists. … Another D-man who established single-season highs in tallies, helpers and points was Cole Miller. … He scored five times and set-up 27 others for 32 points. … You also had William Pâquet supply 31 points as he found the back of the net on four occasions and doled out 27 assists. … Fourth on the squad in offensive contributions among rearguards was Dylan Garvin, who picked up 23 points.
GOALTENDERS: In 15 appearances with Hearst, Jack Helkie went 9-4-1-0 with a goals-against average of 3.36 and a save percentage of .915. … Including his time earlier with Espanola, Helkie had an overall record of 17-13-2-0 with a 3.49 GAA and a .918 save mark and three shutouts. … William Stonehouse sported a record of 9-4-0-0 in 14 appearances. … His average was 3.18, while his SV% was .911. Stonehouse also posted one shutout. … He did win six of his final eight starts.
THE PAPER KINGS: Ending up sixth in the NOJHL standings, Espanola had a record of 27-21-1-3. … On home ice they went 15-9-1-1 and were .500 on the road at 12-12-0-2. … On the man advantage, the Paper Kings were sixth in the league at 21.4% and banged in 61 goals on the P.P. … They were third overall on the P.K. at 82.6% and collected the second-most markers in the league while shorthanded at 18. … Espanola was 15-3-0-0 when ahead after 20 minutes and 19-2-0-0 with the lead through two periods of play. … Their record when notching the initial goal in a game was 15-8-0-0. … The Paper Kings were shorthanded a league-high 281 times on the season and gave up 64 power play goals. … They also led the league in penalty minutes at 841.
FORWARDS: Joseph Coates was well over a point-per-game supplier in leading Espanola in offensive production. … Coates collected 73 in total on 27 tallies and 46 assists. … That placed him ninth in NOJHL scoring. … As one of the youngest players in the entire league, 16-year-old Owen Smith sat second on the squad with 60 points. … Smith led all rookies in scoring and was tops in goals (24) and second in assists (36). … He finished first as well in shorthanded markers (5), that also paced all players, power play points (27) and man advantage assists (20). … Smith was No. 1 in game-winning goals by a rookie, at seven. That was just one off the overall league lead in that department. … Coates and Carter Drigo tied for second in the NOJHL with four man-down markers apiece. … Coates shared the lead in shorthanded points with seven while Smith and Graydon Guthrie were next at six. … Drigo and Guthrie were third and fourth respectively in team numbers with 51 and 45 points to their credit. … 17 of Drigo’s 32 goals came in his final 11 games. … Michael Morascyzk was fifth on the squad in points with 34.
DEFENCE: Wyatt Farries topped the Paper Kings in numbers by defenceman with 25 in 50 outings. … His 22 assists were the fourth highest among rookies D-men. … Carter Makasoff was second on the team with 19 points from the blueline. … After him was Warren Farver, who had 17 while Reid de Bokx chipped in with 17.
GOALTENDERS: Logan Vale contributed nicely between the pipes for Espanola, going 17-9-2-1 on the season. … His victory total tied him for fourth in the league with former teammate, Helkie. … Vale was ninth in the NOJHL in goals-against average at 3.57. … He sat fifth in save percentage at .917. … He also had the fifth highest total in minutes played at 1,799 and posted one shutout. … Cameron Millar started three times in his four appearances with the Paper Kings late in the campaign, going 1-2-0-0 with a 4.26 GAA and .896 SV%.
UP NEXT: The series winner will move on to compete in the NOJHL’s semifinals.
BROADCASTERS
Lumberjacks: Denis J. Puska
Paper Kings: Thomas Mercier
WHERE TO WATCH: All NOJHL playoff games are streamed live online via its official broadcast partner, at FLOHockey.tv.
