In interview with The Voice of the East At the end of April, President Claude Lapensée confirmed rumors that Keyvin Corbin wanted to sell, in particular to concentrate on other projects. Alerted by a publication on social networks, Francis Soucy quickly showed interest. In fact, the 45-year-old stockbroker even achieved “a personal goal” by buying himself a hockey club.
“I was looking for a way to recreate what I experienced when we went to see the Patriotes and the Voyageurs (of Cowansville). There was a big atmosphere in town, all the young people were there. I am very excited to combine the event and the hockey aspect,” he said on the phone.
Improvements in mind
We can almost speak of a logical continuation for someone who has completed a course in sports management and marketing offered by New York University. Even though he clearly did not want to spit on the former administration, Soucy identified some potential improvements during his visits to the Roland-Désourdy Sports Pavilion in recent years.
Francis Soucy (Facebook)
“It could be opening the doors earlier, adding music in certain places, crowd entertainment or even the visuals of the game itself. These are things that we will look at soon.”
Contrary to what one might believe, Francis Soucy is not worried about the presence of four other denominations of the LHSE within a radius of 50 kilometers, including three in the coverage territory of The Voice of the East (in Bedford, Farnham and Waterloo). He believes that Cowansville offers a clearly sufficient population base as the “center town” of Brome-Missisquoi, and that senior hockey fans constitute a very interesting target for local sponsors.
For his part, Keyvin Corbin assures that he only remembers positives from this adventure. Before selling, he also wanted to obtain assurance that the team would remain in Cowansville, that his project would not die. The owner of the Chez mon uncle bar had simply arrived at a crossroads.
“I spent my weekends on the road and at the arena. At some point, you have to be there to manage it. business…” he argued.
Keyvin Corbin (left) and Étienne Côté (center) played very important roles in the return of senior hockey to Cowansville. (Olipro)
A young CEO in charge
Corbin will remain available as an advisor at least until the holidays, if everyone stays on the same page. Because his successor as general director, Samuel Tétreault, is already in place. This opportunity may seem surprising for a 22-year-old, but it is not an anomaly within the LHSE.
A strong right-handed defender, the native of Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge has worked his way almost everywhere, whether in the United States, in the Quebec Junior AAA League and even in the Swedish third division. We should not see him in the Cowansvillois uniform in the short term, but this journey has allowed him to define the philosophy he wishes to implement among the Coureurs des Bois.
“I want players who can hit as well as score goals and pull off a good feint. The objective is to create a solid team spirit, which will give people the taste of blocking shots for the guy next to them,” summarized Tétreault.
Nothing is ever set in stone in senior hockey, but the young GM is hopeful of bringing back players like Steve Lebel, Samuel Michaud, Zachary Marsh and Justin Choinière. It also closed its first transaction, a 100% local deal involving Bedford’s Southbec Express. By sacrificing the rights of defender Miguel Duchaine, Tétreault was able to obtain those of Branden Picken and goaltender Joey Allen. The latter will likely replace Charles-Antoine Poirier-Turcot.
Among the main issues to be resolved among the Coureurs des Bois, there is notably the appointment of a new head coach, since Étienne Côté left the ship at the same time as his friend Corbin. However, this file seems to be well advanced.
Let us note in closing that Soutbec Express was preparing to announce some acquisitions at the time of writing these lines. The Waterloo Maroons traded the imposing Brian Lovell to Mercier, obtaining Alexandre Touchette and Samuel Addison in return.
