Ontario Junior Hockey League resident writer Ron Valentine is profiling the 2024-25 team captains across The OJ.
BY RON VALENTINE
Belleville-born CORBIN ROACH is the captain of the defending OJHL East Conference champion Trenton Golden Hawks for the 2024-25 season. He was an assistant captain of the team last season and now steps up to the leading role on the ice.
“Roachy is a heart-and-soul player,” said Trenton Head Coach and General Manager Derek Smith. “He would go through the wall for his teammates. He leads by example with his work ethic and determination. Whether it’s in the gym, battle days or games, he’s always pushing his limits and his teammates.”
Corbin started his OJHL career with the arch-rival Wellington Dukes scoring 21 points in the 2021-22 season. The next year he more than doubled that total with 44 including 18 goals and then came the move to Trenton. In 2022-23 he appeared in the OJHL Top Prospects game.
In 2020 he was selected by the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League’s U16 draft.
Corbin had a very accomplished 2023-24 campaign, which included a 26 goal, 68-point regular season and then added 14 playoff points. He played for Team Hawerchuk in the Eastern Canada Cup. “It was a great season (2023-24) for us no doubt, the best for me so far. Everyone was on board quickly and we came so close in the Buckland Cup final. The loss (to Collingwood) hurt for a while but really we had nothing to be ashamed of and we were all able to look back on the great things we did accomplish.”
“I remember my first game I played against the Dukes after coming to Trenton, the atmosphere was electric because the two teams have always had such a great rivalry. Both are great organizations with terrific fan bases.”
“It will be tough to follow what we did last season but we have brought in several new faces to replace the players who graduated or were traded. It’s great to have David Fournier back (he had 58 points in the regular season and a team-leading 25 in the postseason) and he will have a very big year as will Jacob Xu. He’s a defenceman who already has a commitment to Harvard and he has amazing talent.”
“To take this season to the next level will take 110-percent effort on every shift but this promises to be the hardest-working team we’ve had.”
A visit to Calgary, home of the 2025 Centennial Cup, would be the icing on the cake for the new captain and his leadership group.
Trenton (6-1-0-0) is in first place in the East. The Golden Hawks are home to the North York Rangers tonight
Follow Ron Valentine on X @ronandlynda
