Elliot Lake Bobcats
Press Release
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Contact: Ryan Leonard, elliotlakebobcats@hotmail.com
Bobcats’ Captain Waghorne off to Southern Maine of the NCAA
ELLIOT LAKE – The Elliot Lake Bobcats of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League are pleased to announce that captain John Waghorne has committed to attend the University of Southern Maine and play for the Huskies hockey program starting in the fall.
The Wheaton, Ill., native will be joining a school based in Goreham, Maine that competes in the D-3 ECAC East conference.
The stay-at-home defenceman has 13 points in 50 games for the Bobcats this season on a pair of goals and 11 assists.
Discussing his time with the Bobcats’ program, Waghorne believes his time in the NOJHL has helped him as he prepares to move to the next level.
“The first year in the NOJHL was a hard one,” said the Elliot Lake captain. “I had to bring my game up to another level. The NOJHL was a lot more competitive then the GMHL and everything was so new for us, we had to start from scratch and rebuild to continue to bring competitive hockey to the fans in Elliot Lake.”
He also appreciates the confidence his teammates had in naming him to don the “C” for the club.
“I appreciated the boys having the confidence in me and voting me Team Captain. It means a lot.”
When asked about the decision to play in Elliot Lake for 3 years he said tt was a pretty easy choice.
“I saw a lot of players move onto Division III NCAA hockey and that was my ultimate goal. Coach Ryan Leonard runs a great program and knows what is needed to develop players to make it to the next level.”
Waghorne was also grateful to the couple that opened their doors to billet him during his time in Elliot Lake.
“Darla and Howie Hennessey were the best billet parents a guy could ask for and they made it worth while to come back to this beautiful community,” Waghorne offered.
Bobcats head coach, general manager and owner Ryan Leonard gave his thoughts on the D-man’s commitment to Southern Maine.
“John Waghorne is the type of player any coach would be lucky to build a team around,” Leonard stated.
“When you stay loyal to your team that only good things can happen. John stayed loyal to assistant coach Todd Stencill and I for three years and we couldn’t be happier for him and his family.”
Waghorne’s commitment is the second of an Elliot Lake player in a week as fellow defenceman Bryan MacFarlane will be off to the University of Windsor to play in the OUA for the Lancers starting in 2014-15.
