A member of the gold medal winning Ontario Gold squad at the recent Ontario Summer Games, Valley East native Sam Frappier managed to net some critical goals as part of his team's run to the title.

Sure, a game-tying tally with 10 seconds to play in the opening encounter of round robin was nice, and the game-winning strike in the semi-final battle was big, but those snipes were not necessarily the greatest source of pride in Kitchener-Waterloo for the young prospect who is returning for a second straight year with the Vaughan Kings later this month.

“I didn’t make too many mistakes and was very hard working,” said Frappier, whose crew which also included local defenseman Vince Tarini doubled Ontario Purple (assistant coach Elliot Richardson) in the final.

“I’m very solid. I always keep my head up to see the defenseman pinching down and I can chip it around them. I am also very good at feeding it cross-ice to the far side winger or with a bump pass to the centre.”

Entering his OHL draft year, Sam Frappier has found a way to stay true to his hockey identity even as he continues to be a key contributor on the attack. “All of my goals were hard-working dirty goals; I even scored one falling down, which was pretty nice,” said Frappier.

“And I am good at blocking shots,” added the 5’10” talent who has played centre (started the OSG in this position), but enjoys the slot on the left wing far more (where he played the bulk of this tournament). “A lot of people don’t have that skill (shot blocking) – or aren’t willing to do it.”

A member of the 2024-2025 Sudbury U14 AAA Wolves team that advanced to the semi-finals of the younger version of the OHL Cup, beaten 4-3 in overtime by the Vaughan Kings unit that he now plays for, Frappier has identified at least a couple of key areas of improvement as he hopes to hear his name called next June in Kingston.

"I really need to work on my speed to get a faster start - and help to protect myself more," he said. "I think the off-ice (workout) is more important. You have more time to work on stuff off the ice than on the ice - and there's a lot more drills that you can do to work on your explosiveness."

Joining Frappier and Tarini in returning from the rink with hardware was former teammate and high-scoring forward Preston Hebert as Ontario Blue walked off with bronze medals. Rounding out the Sudbury connections on hand for boys hockey at the Summer Games was Padraig Courtney.

While the Sudbury female hockey contingent was larger, a podium placement remained elusive, with defenseman Reese Doherty (started with Sudbury Lady Wolves; now with Mississauga Hurricanes) and her team recording the best showing (of the locals), finishing fourth.

Also in attendance at the Games were Reese Morris, Ella Sabourin, Kloe Rienguette, Davie Dale, Alyssa Bryant and local referee Abiguèle Perreault.