Fort-Coulonge hockey player Sacha Jolin is used to going the distance for the game he loves. Growing up, his dad would drive him to regular practices as far as Deep River and Gatineau, depending on which team he was playing with. 

Since completing an electromechanical technician program in Gatineau in 2024, Jolin has returned to playing with his hometown Comets, which he first joined at five years old. But this return will be short-lived. 

Now 20 years old, Jolin will be hitting the road once again for the sport, this time travelling a little further afield, with plans to move to Czechia in August to play for a college-level team that recently recruited him. 

“The offer came kind of out of the blue. It kind of felt unreal,” Jolin said, explaining he believes he was scouted during a recent game he played with his Comets Juvenile team in Gatineau. “I was shocked. I was just really happy.” 

Jolin said he received offers from three college teams after that game – two from Michigan, and one from the Prague Guardians, one of six teams in the newly formed European Union College Hockey League (EUCHL) which will host its first games this fall.  

The league was created to offer young Canadian and American players more options for continuing their hockey careers after, in 2024, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) changed its amateurism rules for who could play college hockey, opening it up to players who were already playing in the Canadian Hockey League.

“Increased competition for roster spots, coupled with NCAA Division I roster limitations and the reduction of partial scholarship opportunities, has left many players with fewer options to continue their athletic and academic careers,” the EUCHL website explains, of the need for its creation. 

“Designed specifically for those players impacted by the NCAA’s evolving landscape, the league combines world-class education with competitive hockey and a clear pathway to European professional leagues.” 

Jolin said because the league is so new, he doesn’t know much about his or the other teams he’ll be up against, but is excited for the opportunity. 

“I’ve never been to Europe, and I think going there, the experience is going to be crazy,” he said. “I know a few people that did, and they all had fun, had a great time.” 

Jumping in the deep end for the sake of getting better is not new to Jolin. When he was 11 years old, and barely spoke English, he joined the Deep River Knights for two seasons, coached by David Miller.  

“Sacha didn’t have a huge English background. It was more nods and smiles that I would get from him, but he seemed to understand hockey quite well,” Miller recalled. “And we didn’t mind having him because he would have been our best forward out there.” 

Miller said he immediately recognized the young Jolin to have a good hockey sense about him.

“He just kind of knew where to go and what to do. On the ice, do you really need to be able to speak French and English? No you don’t. You’re acting on instinct. His skating was good, his shot was good, and I said, ‘Hm, yep. It’s going to be enjoyable having him on our team.’”

Miller said he hasn’t seen many of his former players go on to play college-level – in fact only Jolin and his own daughter, who now plays with the Carleton University team. 

“It’s tough, because you have to make that commitment, and usually for anybody around here it requires you to travel. You have to put in the time to do it and you have to have the parents that are willing to do it as well.”

The dedication from his own family isn’t lost on Jolin. 

“My dad, he drove me all around. I think if I would have refused [this opportunity], it would have been a little punch to his face. I think this is a good accomplishment for me, but my dad is also really, really happy.”

Lucky for Jolin, he won’t have to learn Czech before he hops the Atlantic this fall, so will be able to focus on his game and his schooling.

He said he plans to study finance at the University of Finance and Administration while he’s there, and knows the academics are as important to his success abroad as his performance on the ice. 

“My goal there is to try to dominate at everything – dominate on the ice and also in school. Because when you play there you also have to be good in school.” 

He said once he completes the four-year program, he hopes to be able to play professionally in Europe before returning to Canada, something he’s long dreamt of doing. 

“When I was five, my goal was to be a professional hockey player, and now that goal is even closer,” he said.