2023-05-31

Young para hockey player competes at national event

by KEVIN MCBAIN

  • <p>SOURCE: PARAHOCKEY MONTREAL WEBSITE</p><p>The future is bright for young Jiesheng Boutilier of Bridgewater who just returned from the national para hockey championships held in Quebec.</p>

PINE GROVE – Jiesheng Boutilier's ceiling in the sport of para hockey is extremely high.

The gifted 14-year-old, Grade 9 student from Bayview Community School, was recently part of Team New Brunswick that competed at the seven-team national para hockey championships (May 18-21) held in Boucherville, Quebec. He was one of four Nova Scotia players to join the team to complete the roster on the first-ever team coming from the province. The squad finished the tournament with four wins and two losses.

Head coach of the team, Shawn Lucas, has been involved in para hockey for many years. He has competed at the nationals before and won three gold medals as captain of Team Alberta and is the current assistant coach of the national women's team. He spoke highly of the young player.

"His play was unreal. He drew a lot of attention from the right people," he said, adding Team Canada coaches and scouts definitely took notice. "He was awarded the player of the game in one of the games and I thought he could have got it in multiple games."

Lucas said what impressed him the most was his fearlessness.

"His team-mates affectionally called him either, G or Bulldozer. There was absolutely no fear. It didn't matter the size of the opponent, the age or skill, he was just completely fearless and I haven't seen players forecheck like he did. His play was off the charts. I don't think he realizes how high his ceiling is. He's got so much potential," he said.

"There are some things that he will learn to make his game better, but you can teach a player skills, but you can't teach a player will and he has that in spades. I think you will see him not just representing provinces, but you will probably see him represent his country someday, that would be my guess."

Boutilier stands at about 1.27 m tall and weighs about 39 kilograms. He has a congenital disorder called Arthrogryposis, which means many of his joints are curved.

He says he enjoyed everything about the trip.

"At the first camp with the team it was kind of weird. I really didn't know that many of them, but I have played against them before, so being on the same team kind of felt weird," he said. Despite that he said the team, parents became close knit in a short amount of time and each one became as family. The team did everything together to tighten that bond.

His mother, Alicia added, "In the locker room at the end, the team had a big meeting and everyone was really sad that the group had to be broken up. It was a really nice experience for the kids, coaches and families."

As far as the expectations on the ice..."I was hoping that we would win at least one game, but we ended up winning four which is good. I did kind of think that the play would be more physical because they were national games," adding that he felt a bit nervous because it was his first nationals, but the nerves went away when he hit the ice.

Accepting praise doesn't come easy for Boutilier, but he may have to get used to it.

Despite his recent success, he continues to work hard. He recently purchased a net and was able to secure some fake ice to put in the basement to work on his shots, especially with his left hand. He will also be hitting the ice as well, over the summer.

Overall, he learned that communication is key on the ice and off the ice as well and he says that he really likes the nickname, Bulldozer, and next year wants to improve on his on-ice aggressiveness.

Dave Waters, head coach and founder of the South Shore ICE Storm has coached him since the age of seven, echoed Lucas's thoughts.

"We recognized early on that he had the skill to move along just based on his make-up for this sport. I think he's really blossomed especially in the last two years," he said. "I did get a message from the manager of the national team saying that he was scouted at the national event. This means they've earmarked him and although he may not make the selection camp for next year because of his age, he may get some invites for other activities to help him move along."

Waters said what made things more incredible at the national tournament was the fact he was the second youngest player in the entire tournament, playing against much older, more experienced and bigger opponents, and he "was more than holding his own."

Boutilier also played with good friends Logan Munden and Hadley Frittenburg of the Halifax area. The three were the cornerstones of the South Shore ICE Storm Tier 1 tournament team this past season that led the ICE Storm in four Atlantic tournaments this year against teams from Cape Breton, PEI and New Brunswick. Munden is just 13 years of age and was the youngest in the tournament, while Frittenburg, at age 16, is a member of Team Canada's women's national team.

Also competing from Halifax, and a member of the ICE Storm, was veteran goaltender Eddy Durand.

The team held just two, two-day camps for nine hours total on the ice in preparation for the tournament and being it was just the second time that Atlantic Canada had sent a team to the nationals (the first was 2017), the expectations for Team New Brunswick was quite low.

"For me it was important to do this, that we break that barrier and we get something going here and have more teams develop. There are enough athletes in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island that they can have their own teams in the near future," he said, applauding the commitment of the athletes and families that were all in for this year's event.

"It didn't really matter who won that tournament, we were definitely the story there. We blew so many of people's expectations away. Our fans were loud and our entire group drew so much attention. Having the players there and experiencing the nationals and seeing what's possible is key. The future is so bright."

Team New Brunswick finished the tournament with the second-best record among the teams at 4-2. The championship was won by Team Quebec, who finished with a 6-0 record and allowed just five goals against, while scoring 44.

New Brunswick competed in the B Pool against teams from B.C., Manitoba and Saskatchewan and they finished second in this group.

Waters says the sport is growing in Atlantic Canada and is hopeful that more opportunities such as high-level camps and one day a Team Nova Scotia may be offered to support high level athletes like Boutilier for them to continue the growth in the sport.

The Boutiliers want to recognize the South Shore ICE Storm and the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg for their financial support to allow him to compete at the training camps and at the national championships.

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