There is nothing quite like ending your junior hockey close to where you were born.
Emo Goaltender Jack Orchard gets that opportunity after the Fort Frances Lakers acquired him from the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League in exchange for a player development fee.
Emo is just a 30-minute drive west of Fort Frances, which will give Orchard’s family plenty of opportunities to see him play this year.
“I'm looking forward to seeing all my family members who can now come [and] watch me play a lot more, that will be amazing,” Orchard said. “I really like [the Lakers] coaching staff, lots of their returning guys that they have coming back, you know, they were putting up some good numbers. I'm pretty excited to see what we can do, and of course playing games closer to home.”
Orchard will turn 21 next April, and backed up Eric Vanska in 2022-2023 with the Kam River Fighting Walleye of the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL).
Getting over the hump of winning the franchise’s first Bill Salonen Cup was not easy for the group, especially when the Fighting Walleye decided to relieve head coach Matt Valley of his duties.
“We [as players] didn't really know how to handle that, but we had each other's backs and battled through adversity and we were able to find success,” recalled Orchard. “When [new head coach] Geoff Walker came in, he said ‘I'm here to win a championship, and as long as all you guys are ready to buy in with me, I'll give you the tools and things you need to do it to accomplish that.’ So, he came in with good energy, good attitude and we all followed that.”
Orchard played in 19 regular season games, compiling an 11-5 record to go along with a 2.34 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.
Orchard was dealt by the Fighting Walleye to the Eagles following the Canada Day weekend, but found himself in a tough spot with his new Michigan-based team.
“I got a call from [the Eagles general manager] and he just got right to the point and said [that] he is putting me on the [trade] wire. The team had too many Canadians, [and there were] some guys coming in that he didn't think were going to come in, and he had to get rid of me. But, you know, at all everything happens for a reason. So, I mean, it all worked out,” he added.
Orchard played most of his minor hockey in Emo and went to Fort Frances once he turned 10 to play in what used to be known as Atom hockey.
He then made the move down to Minnesota to finish his minor hockey days and even played high school hockey in the United States.
It was down there that was recruited by the Fighting Walleye to come back to Canada as a 19-year-old.
Orchard states that he wants to see how long he can take playing hockey before deciding on any other career path.
Orchard and the Lakers will open their 49-game regular season schedule on Sept. 22 in Dryden against the Ice Dogs.
The team will play their home opener on Sept. 29 against the Kam River Fighting Walleye.
Orchard will return to Norwest Arena in Lakers colours on Nov. 25.
