Navy Vets kick off regular season this weekend

Navy Vets alumni Justin Elms (left) is the team’s new head coach, while Jordan Thomson (centre) is returning as captain. Tillsonburg native Tyler Bouck (right) will return between the pipes after becoming the franchise career shutouts leader last season. (Contributed photos).

Lee Griffi, Editor - With notes from Jim Taylor

The Woodstock Navy Vets open the 2025-26 Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) season Friday night at home against the Wellesley Applejacks. They also host Norwich on Sunday for an afternoon matinee at 1:45 p.m.

The Vets are coming off a 27-win season, good for third place in the tough Doherty Division, where they eventually lost to the New Hamburg Firebirds in five games in a division semi-final series.

Navy Vet alumnus Justin Elms takes over as the team’s new head coach after three seasons as an assistant. He’ll be joined by a staff stacked with alumni: Chris Thompson, Chris Jensen, Chris Nauts, and goalie coach Keaghan Brett. Darren Young steps in as the team’s new general manager.

Local veteran defencemen Jordan Thomson is returning as captain, while Charley Barnes and Connor Stanley have been named alternate captains.

Beachville native Nolan Brett is returning after leading the team in assists last season. He has been a perennial scoring leader with the Vets over the past four seasons and hard-working Connor Stanley is back for his third season. Other returning forwards include locals Rhylan Warford and Gavin Birmingham, Brodie Kearns from Brantford and Kitchener native Tate McKenna. Barnes was named the PJHL Doherty Division Top Defenceman last season, while Thomson and Matthew Meyer return to anchor the blueline.

Tillsonburg goalie Tyler Bouck is back and is expected to shoulder most of the goaltending duties. He is the franchise leader in shutouts and was among the top five in all goaltending statistical categories last season with a 2.48 goals against average, a .929 save percentage and a pair of shutouts. 16-year-old Woodstock native Kobe Nadalin has been signed as a backup goalie. He played last season with the U16 AAA Kitchener Rangers organization.

The Vets have bolstered their defence with four offseason signings. Newmarket native Michael Lee from OJHL Oakville Blades, Ottawa native Will McGregor from the USPHL Elmira, Colin Shaw from Brantford, and locals Nathan Crane and Ethan Markle.

Up front, the team has added experienced scorers, including Owen Ireton from the Greater Ontario Hockey League’s Ayr Centennials, where he amassed 57 points in 48 games. Logan Yovetich comes in from the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Oakville Blades, Cooper Vickerman from PJHL Georgina Ice, Liam Gorman from PJHL Tavistock Braves, and Dailen Fousek from PJHL Port Hope Panthers. Woodstock has also signed local rookies Kingston McPherson and Austin Doolittle, as well as Rashaad Eichenberg from Brantford.

Among those not returning this year is Davin Gray. The team’s leading scorer for the past three seasons was traded to the Thamesford Trojans. Other potential overagers have found new homes - Kyle Caron with Hespeler and Braeden Tyler with Paris. Defenceman Michael Vermeersch and forward Ethan Pearce were traded to Aylmer.

Five players graduated from the Vets following the 2024-25 season. Forwards Lucas Balanca, Diego Sabino, and Thomas Guidolin, as well as defencemen Chris Coulter and Logan Pace-Roth have all ended their careers due to age following the 2024-25 season.