Two young Pontiac hockey players are making names as some of the brightest prospects in the Outaouais as they begin their season with an elite team in Gatineau.

Taytum Thompson of Clarendon and Tristan Queale of Luskville made the final roster of the U17 AAA Gatineau Intrépide, a collection of some of the region’s best young players that kicked off their season on Sept. 14. 

Seventeen-year-old Thompson started his journey with the Pontiac Lions before moving into the Gatineau system at the atom level. Now captain of the Intrépide squad, he had a successful last season with 19 points – enough to attract the interest of prep schools in the United States as well as the local Gatineau Flames AAA junior team. 

He was selected 68th overall in the league’s draft at only 15 years of age, but the Clarendon native decided to stay one more season with the Intrépide to work on his game as he tries to attract the interest of scouts from across Ontario and Quebec.  

The sport didn’t always come so easy for Thompson. Each year he tried out for the AAA team, but he was always the final player cut.  

“I was just not cracking the lineup,” he said. 

Thompson saw an opportunity to work on his weaknesses. He trained his skating, strength and conditioning, and in midget managed to finally crack the AAA roster. 

“I already had the hands and the thought and the brains, I just never had the skating. So that’s what brought me to the next level,” he said of what helped him make the jump. 

Eric Labelle, Thompson’s head coach and a varsity coach at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, said he has been impressed with the teen’s performance.  

“He brings a lot of great elements that other players don’t bring. He’s got an edge to his game. He plays physical. He’s a team player. He does a lot of the small details that maybe fans and people don’t understand,” he said. 

Thompson describes himself as a “power forward” – a physical player who isn’t afraid to mix it up. He had the second-most penalty minutes on his team last year. 

But as any young player his age, he is trying to become a better all-around player. Last season, Thompson notched 12 goals and 7 assists, showing a wide skillset. 

“I’m trying to work on my stickhandling, shots, skating, even trying to use my brain a bit more,” he said, adding that he hopes scouts will see  this versatility as he moves into his final season.

Labelle said he believes the teen has what it takes to play the next level, whether that is major junior or another lower-level junior league. 

He said while the teen can benefit from working on his whole game, his physical strength needs to be at the forefront of his game. 

“If he’s going to go somewhere and play up in junior, he’s going to need to bring that physicality,” he said.

This year Thompson will continue to work hard in hopes of getting a major junior tryout or a chance with another junior team. 

“If I get a really good offer from somewhere far and it’s worth it, I really think I’d do it.” 

Luskville’s Queale joins Thompson

Queale, a centreman for the Intrépide, also played for the Lions when he was young before moving into the Hull Dragons AA squad a few years ago, where he and Thompson played together. 

Last year, at 14 years old, he tried out for the U17 AAA but unfortunately missed the cut. This year, at 15 years old, he made the roster as one of the team’s youngest players.

“[Last year] I wasn’t really prepared for the tryout
[ . . . ] This summer I worked out a lot and I played a lot more hockey,” he said, adding that in this year’s tryout he was more aggressive and he was happy to get the result he wanted. 

Coach Labelle, who is coaching Queale for the first time this season, said he had heard from Queale’s AA coaches that he was a hard worker – all you can ask for a player trying to get his big break in AAA. 

“You show up to camp, it doesn’t matter if you play AAA or AA – if you perform, you deserve it and I’ll give you a chance, and Tristan made [the most out of] his chance,” said Labelle.

Queale said while he isn’t much of a goal scorer, he tries to make the most out of his other attributes. 

“I think I’m a fast player. I’m aggressive, I like to hit a lot [and] I’m a good passer too,” he said. 

Unlike Thompson, Queale still has another season to make decisions about his hockey future. For right now he’s going to keep his head down and work hard to improve his game, but he said there is one dream he has in the sport. 

“My dream is to go far and play junior AAA [ . . . ]  I would love to be drafted in the QMJHL,” he said.