On May 10th the Sarnia Sting announced the hiring of London assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu. He played major junior hockey for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds back in the 80s and most recently coached the Saint John Sea Dogs before being let go in 2008 and returning to London.
Next month, his son, Nathan will be a first-round pick in the June 24 NHL Entry Draft and possibly even a top-10 selection.
"(Beaulieu) has the chance to be a special player," said one NHL amateur scouting director B2011DW spoke to recently. "He has excellent hockey sense, can really move the puck and has character. You can't say enough about this kid and where he comes from. I know his dad well, and he comes from an excellent hockey family."
Nathan Beaulieu was most recently featured on this blog as we made a case for him being a potential Boston Bruins selection at the ninth overall spot in Minnesota.
Regardless of where he ends up, his father joining an exciting young team that boasts two potential top-five picks in 2012 in Nail Yakupov and Alex Galchenyuk, not to mention intriguing power forward Brett Ritchie, a solid second-rounder and even maybe late first-rounder in 2011, makes this a pretty special time for the entire Beaulieu family.
Here's a link some nice video on Sarnia's new coach and Nathan's pop courtesy of the outstanding Station Nation blog
*(Not affiliated with the Boston Bruins or the New England Hockey Journal)
The one thing I've heard about Jacques is that he is very open. His door is always open to talk to fans and reporters which is a breath of fresh air.
ReplyDeleteDave Torrie was the same way with the Soo Greyhounds and Dave Reid also with the Peterborough Petes.
I think Sarnia did very well in Saturdays draft and with the players you've mentioned already and Jacques taking over, things are looking very good for the Sting for the immediate future and the next few years.
Could easily be one of the top 4 teams in the O next year !