Trappers staff believe you can develop by staying home

'I still believe you can stay at home and sleep in your own bed and be around your support group, and still have the same opportunity'

Jeff Mancini explains some drills during a U16 AAA Trappers practice at North Bay Memorial Gardens. Chris Dawson/BayToday.

After a rough 0-5 start to the season, the North Bay U16 AAA Trappers season seems to be turning in the right direction.

The U16 squad went a respectable 2-2 at the highly competitive Wendy Dufton Memorial Tournament in London and then followed up with a split at home against a talented Sault Ste. Marie U16 AAA Greyhounds team including a 5-2 win on Sunday morning at the Powassan Sportsplex.

It's not easy icing a local U16 AAA team each season. Last year, the North Bay & District Trappers AAA Hockey Association did not have a team that plays in the Great North U18 AAA Hockey League. For many years, the team can only compete if it is supplemented by out-of-town talent.

One of the problems for the local AAA association is the attraction for some parents to send their 15-year-old son south or relocate the family entirely to play hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL); considered to be one of the best hockey development league's in the country.

The families figure the exposure playing in the GTHL will allow their son to receive more looks from Ontario Hockey League scouts in their draft year.

Matt Rabideau is the manager of the U16 AAA Trappers. He has experience on both ends of the spectrum on this topic as a AAA manager now and an assistant general manager with the OHL's North Bay Battalion in the past.

Rabideau believes families need to weigh out the pros and cons between moving to play in a highly competitive league and staying home and developing a good program in their hometown.

"I still believe you can stay at home and sleep in your own bed and be around your support group and still have the same opportunity," said Rabideau.

However, when one player leaves town, it opens the door for another player to benefit.

"I think sometimes leaving home at this age is still a bit too young, but I guess it more or less gives the opportunity that if someone leaves, then you know what, someone comes in and takes a position and they're able to develop with our team, so it's a great opportunity," he said.

In his time with the North Bay Battalion, Rabideau has witnessed the challenges drafted players face when moving away for the first time.

"We've seen the adjustment period that 16 year old's had when I was with the Battalion, and coming in as a 16-year-old, you're coming to a new school, you've got a new dressing room, you've got a new peer group, you've got a new city that you've moved to and it's a big adjustment," noted Rabideau.

Rabideau says OHL teams have support staff to help with the transition away from home. However, most minor hockey teams do not have that kind of support.

"I just believe in staying at home as long as you can. Has anybody's path been altered drastically because they've moved down? I'm not really sure I guess I don't have the answer for that but it, it would be a good opportunity for someone, a university student to do some research on that," he said.

Scouts will find you

Rabideau notes that the Northern Ontario Hockey Association is doing a good job adding to the exposure as its NOHA select team will participate in the highly scouted OHL Cup next spring, along with two other tournaments to add more exposure for the top northern AAA players.

Even with that additional exposure, Rabideau firmly believes if you are good enough, scouts will find you.

"I was one of those guys that sat in freezing rinks, ate the bad hot dogs and the bad popcorn," Rabideau said.

"I always say, never underestimate the integrity of a scout, because these guys are out there. They're working. They're going to be at these games, and they're going to be watching and paying attention and making phone calls and doing interviews and questioning the coaches, and they're going to put the work and the time and to find these guys. So I think you can be anywhere and still have that opportunity."

Top end coaching is here

Jeff Mancini, is one of the experienced coaches behind the bench with the U16 AAA Trappers. Mancini, who played minor pro for three seasons in the Western Professional Hockey League, is confident that local players are benefiting under the local program.

"I think we try and we pride ourselves that we're going to provide as good a coaching that you'd receive anywhere in the province, and we think we're going to run as good or as strong a program that you're going to find anywhere in the province, because we're going to put good people in front of these young gentlemen, and we're going to try and teach them all about the on and on off ice aspect of hockey," said Mancini.

North Bay players recently drafted out of the North Bay AAA Trappers association:

2024