St. Malo Warriors’ head coach and general manager Ralph Collette is positive Ashton Dubois could play at the Jr. A level.
In fact, according to Collette, Dubois might be good enough to win a spot on a Manitoba Junior Hockey League roster.
He was, after all, a Capital Region Junior Hockey League All-Star, the anchor of the Warriors’ No. 1 line during the 2022-23 season and the leading scorer in the league with 15 goals and 41 points, three points ahead of Arborg’s Cadrick Dueck (18 goals and 38 points).
As well, Dubois is only 18 years old. He still has three years of eligibility in the CRJHL.
“He was the top scorer in the league last year and the honour was well-deserved,” said Collette. “He’s from St. Malo, born and raised, and he’s a good, young player. He’s one of those players who is Jr. A calibre, but he just wants to go to work and not commit to that Jr. A level. I think he can play in the MJHL, but it’s quite a commitment.”
As for Dubois, Collette’s assessment is absolutely correct. And it appears Dubois’ decision not to try to play at a more elite level is good news for both the player and his coach.
“As of now, no, I am not planning to play at the Jr. A level,” he said. “I’ve never really thought about it seriously. I like to play local and still be able to go to work and have an income. I don’t have the commitment level for Jr. A. I work for a company in the city that installs railings on commercial buildings. The company’s shop is in Blumenort so I drive there and take company trucks into the city. St. Malo to the city is a good 40-45 minutes, so that’s a haul every day and if I’m going to keep my job, I’m not going to be able to play 60-odd games in the MJHL plus all the travel that’s involved. I like my job and I like the income and I like to play with the local team.”
Dubois has been a rock for Collette’s Warriors for the past two seasons and the fact he and many of his teammates go all the way back to Atom (and even before), says a lot about the closeness of the team that lost the conference championship to the powerful Selkirk Fisherman last spring. Right now, if there is any team that can challenge the Fish for the league title (Selkirk is the only team to win a CRJHL championship since the league’s inception), it’s a team led by Dubois and his linemates, Jeremie Collette and Brady Gregoire.
“I’d say we had the best line in the league last year,” he said. “Me and Jeremie are from St. Malo and Brady is from Dominion City about 25 minutes south of St. Malo. Me and Jeremie are coming back for sure. I’m not sure if Brady’s going somewhere to try out, I haven’t talked to him in a while, but I would love for us to be able to play together again next season. It's such a great time, playing alongside those guys.
“I think, if we can get the same team back next year, we would definitely have a good shot at it. I’m just so confident with this team, I really think we would win. It would be awesome if all the guys came back.”
What makes Dubois’ success with the Warriors even more worthwhile is the fact that the 5-foot-10, 155-pound centre/left-winger has spent his entire life in St. Malo, a town of 1,200 predominantly bilingual folks just south of Winnipeg.
“I played minor hockey in St. Malo until second year Bantam,” Dubois said. “Then I went to Steinbach to play for the Blizzard AA. And then played for the high school team in Morris in Grade 10. The next year, I jumped straight into Jr. B with the Warriors. I was 16 and in Grade 11 when I played my first game with the Warriors.
“But with my first year with the Warriors (2020-21) cut short by COVID, I’ll be coming into my third full season in the CRJHL this year, and I can still play for three more years in this league.”
Interestingly, despite his Jr. A-calibre skills, winning a scoring title was not on his radar. However, his line was so good that while he was No. 1 in the league, Collette was seventh in scoring with 15 goals and 31 points and Gregoire was eighth with 16 goals and 28 points.
“I definitely didn’t see it coming and at my age, I was surprised,” he said. “I don’t turn 19 until October and I’m still one of the younger players in the league, but my linemates are so good, we were all up there in the race.”
“The good news is, Ashton’s back next season and he’s part of our top line with my boy Jeremie and Brady Gregoire -- and they’re all 18, 19 and 20 and all eligible to come back next year and the year after,” said Collette. “They’re all expected back and they will make us a better team next year.”
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