by Warren Rappleyea
With his junior career winding down and the Kemptville 73s struggling, Chase Lammi asked to be traded to a contender. At the conclusion of the holiday break, his request was granted and he joined the Junior Senators.
“I didn’t ask them to try and trade me to a particular team, but I’m very happy it ended up being Ottawa,” Lammi explained.
In his 14 games as a Junior Senator, the lefty-shooting winder has tallied six goals and four assists. Two of those goals were game-winners in back-to-back matches against Renfrew and Pembroke, respectively. In his first game against his old team on January 22, Lammi scored a short-handed goal and added an assist in an OJS win at Kemptville.
“When I got here I could see right away why this is a first-place team,” Lammi said. “It’s like a pro-level experience. Everything is structured, the competition in practice is crazy tough. We go to the gym every day. This is a team dedicated to winning.”
In all, Lammi spent three-and-a-half seasons with the 73s, where he became a mainstay. Prior to the trade, he posted 11 goals and 13 assists in 26 games, after contributing 20 goals and 33 assists during the 2021-22 season. He was also named the Central Canada Hockey League’s (CCHL) Academic Player of the Year for the 2019-20 campaign.
As they seek a fourth straight Bogart Cup, the Junior Senators were very happy to add the swift skating veteran to their roster.
“Chase had to make a few adjustments during his first couple of games here,” Junior Senators Coach Kyle Makaric said. “But he quickly found a home on a line with [Mickael] Hébert and [Massimo] Gentile.”
Hébert and Gentile are two of Ottawa’s top scoring forwards.
“At first, I was kind of figuring out the systems, doing the little things like being low and then getting high on the point, and just blending in with the team and getting to know everyone,” Lammi said. “Now that I’m comfortable, I have to say it’s been awesome. The guys were great and everybody’s on the same page.”
Lammi hails from Sudbury, Ontario. His dad, Dave, owns his own business, while his mom, Natalie, is a special education teacher. In addition to a love for hockey, Lammi inherited a strong work ethic and a love of learning. He is hoping to go on to play at the university level and study economics and finance.
“My dad coached me when I was younger and my mom always kind of harped on me and my brother to really do well in school, so I’ve always taken my grades pretty seriously,” Lammi said. “They watch all my games and they come down to watch in person whenever they can.”
Makaric has also been watching and has been suitably impressed.
“He’s so consistent in the way he hunts down the puck and he always comes back hard on defense” the coach said of Lammi. “He’s really been a perfect fit.”
And with the Bogart Cup playoffs fast approaching Lammi, who hopes to play at the university level next year, says he is ready to go.
“The key to our playing style is that we try to make everything repeatable,” Lammi said. “So night in and night out, we bring the same level of execution and effort. That’s really the key to winning the playoffs.”
