The 2017-18 campaign can be as big as ever for the Ottawa Junior Senators with their participation in the Fred Page Cup as hosts, on top of their usual CCHL obligations. Assistant Coach/Assistant General Manager Jamie Mayo has been working with Head Coach/GM Martin Dagenais to ensure that the club hits all their targets in what will be a busy year.
For this season, over half of OJS’ roster consists of new faces, some with CCHL experience, such as Nick Lalonde and Owen Guy, both of whom were acquired in trades with Cornwall and Kemptville, respectively, but many who are rookies to the league.
“I help Martin out with the day-to-day operations of the club, looking after scouting, looking at players in our league and other leagues who are possibly up for trades, just supporting Martin,” said Mayo on his duties as Assistant General Manager.
With the busy off-season the club has had regarding roster turnover, the CCHL’s opening weekend showcase provided a perfect opportunity for OJS to feature their new additions. And they couldn’t have had a better weekend, earning the maximum of six points in victories over Kemptville (7-2), Brockville (5-0), and Smiths Falls (3-2).
“Some of our newer guys have played at a high level, whether it was as a top 6 forward in the CCHL, or playing in the OHL or the QMJHL, so they come in with talent. Getting off to the start that we did, winning three games on the weekend, chemistry is not something that you can force on a hockey club, it just kind of takes care of itself and you can create more chemistry when you are successful.”
After dropping their next two games, 7-3 to Carleton Place, and 5-4 to Kanata, OJS defeated Brockville 5-4 and is currently first in the Yzerman Division in this young CCHL season. With the Fred Page Cup coming to Ottawa this year, OJS has their sights set on winning multiple cups in 2017-18, and is confident they can develop chemistry from top to bottom long before that competition, but Mayo is prioritizing the CCHL’s Bogart Cup.
“We put together as strong a team as we could knowing we are hosting the Fred Page Cup, to be as strong a representative as we can for our league and for our organization, but ultimately, every year the goal is to win the Bogart Cup.”
On hosting the Fred Page Cup:
“First off, it means a lot of work for Martin,” said a chuckling Mayo. “It gets everyone from top to bottom, the players and the coaches, that much more visibility and recognition. We’re recognized as running a very good organization, and in our own league we are very well respected, but it’s more exposure for our players, the organization, the league, and the great job that Martin has done. For him and the club to host this and be successful every year, it will be nice to have that exposure. We’re successful in our own league, and we want people to know that we run a great organization that should be recognized across the country.
Mayo teaches grade six and four at Our Lady of Wisdom in Orleans, Ontario, but is really a teacher 24/7 when factoring in his work with OJS.
“Everybody learns and processes information differently. You have to recognize how to get your message across to kids, whether it is verbally or by diagramming. It’s not just teaching them, but how you teach, and as a coach, you’re always communicating. You have to figure out how to get kids to process what you want them to process. Communication is huge in the classroom and just as huge as the coach of a junior hockey team.”
