by Darren Desaulniers, Citizen News Services
If you took the number of wins the Hawkesbury Hawks have had over the past two seasons and doubled it, they still wouldn't match the win totals of three Central Junior Hockey League teams from this past season.
But with such futility comes opportunity. The opportunity that presented itself to the Hawks Wednesday night at the newly branded Central Hockey League Tier I draft was the first and fifth overall picks as the club continues into Year 2 of its rebuilding process.
"The rebuild started last year," said Hawks coach Martin Dagenais, after announcing Alex Gendron with the first pick and Jesse Lussier with the fifth at the Earl Armstrong Arena in Gloucester.
"We took over a last-place team, a team that won eight games two years ago, and we knew the first year would be tough. Now I look at my top players and they're all 15, 16, 17 (years old), which is great for the future. You can always lose these kids to the OHL, which is a risk factor, but we think with Gendron we've got a kid that's going to come here and play four or five years."
The Hawks improved their win total to 12 under Dagenais last year and are hoping to push for a playoff spot next season.
"It's recognition of what I've done all year. I worked hard and hopefully I'll make this team," said Gendron, 16, a winger from Cornwall who played last season with the Eastern Ontario Wild. "They need a bit of rebuilding so I'm hoping to help them out. I'm just going to do what I did
all year and hopefully good things will happen."
While Gendron should help them up front, Lussier is a big defenceman from Petawawa who played with the Ottawa Valley Titans.
"He's a great kid, very mature, and we need that. We need young guys because it's a three-year plan here so we're going to let these kids play," Dagenais said.
The Kanata Stallions had the second overall pick and took 15-year-old Spenser Cobbold, a left-winger and teammate of Lussier last year with the Titans.
Like the Hawks, Kanata is rebuilding, and that bodes well for Cobbold, who wants to crack the lineup in the fall.
"Since it's a young team, I think I can play and make an impact," the Stittsville resident said.
