On Sept. 30, the team announced on its Facebook page that one of its new additions, Darcy Findlay, would be its captain for the 2019-20 campaign. The team’s top scorer from last year Stéphane Paré will serve as one of the assistants, while journeymen newcomers David Croteau and David Foucher will also wear the “A” on their jerseys.

According to the team’s head coach Jean-Francois Lavergne, the decision layed on the notion that he wanted to pick a local player, with loads of hockey experience who carried himself with confidence and leadership.

A decision made collectively by members of the coaching staff, the selection was unanimous and done without much hesitation, Lavergne said.

“We saw in Darcy a leader who wanted to help the team get to another level,” he said.

Born and raised in the Pontiac and having played at high levels his entire career, including four years at Bemidji State university in Minnesota where he helped the program achieve its first ever Frozen Four berth, selecting him was a no-brainer, Lavergne said.

Plus, coming off a few years of coaching at the junior level in the CCHL and in the OHL with the Flint Firebirds, his experience added exponentially to the team’s leadership values, he added.

“He’s an intense player, a player who leads by example on the ice and for us the fact that he brought leadership a little bit everywhere he’s been was very important to us,” he said.

For Lavergne, picking the team’s leadership core was about emphasizing character over skill. Unlike many other teams in the league looking to fill their rosters with fresh, young talent, Lavergne scoured Ontario and Quebec looking for grizzled veterans who wouldn’t get fazed by the challenges that the league offered.

From what he’s seen from his squad during their first two weeks of practices before the regular season, he expects to deploy an offensively dynamic team that is also responsible defensively and tenacious in all facets of the game.

“Contrarily to a lot of other teams, we went out and got a lot of veterans on our team, guys over 30 years old who have played at a high level, who have experience,” he said.

“Players we’ve brought on our team aren’t just offensive guys who only play on one side of the puck,” he added. “They can play in all situations.”

While he expects the league to be stronger in its second season, he’s still confident about his team’s chances of finding some success on the ice.

“We expect to go as far as possible,” he said. “We aim to be near the top of the league and to be playing up until the very last games of the season.”

For Findlay, the opportunity to wear the “C” for his home region’s team, while playing in front of tons of friends and family every other week is going to be a very meaningful and exciting experience.

For Findlay, playing for the Comets presented a great opportunity to continue playing the game he loved at a high level while continuing his career as a school teacher.

While he’s very excited for the season ahead, he admits that making the commitment to the league and everything that comes with it wasn’t easy and took quite some time to make.

Last year, Findlay lived in Michigan, working as an associate coach for the Flint Firebirds in the OHL where he got the chance to see some of the continent’s best young players on a night to night basis.

When the season ended, he returned home to Shawville not knowing what he wanted to do right away. While exploring a variety of coaching opportunities in both the OHL and the QMJHL, he landed an opportunity to teach at Pontiac High School (PHS) in Shawville – an opportunity way too good to pass up.

Having started his teaching career before getting into coaching, Findlay explained that when he was in teacher’s college at Bemidji State, he often envisioned himself teaching at PHS.

Shortly after landing the job, Comets owner and starting goaltender Danick Boisvert approached him about joining the Comets.

After seeing the organization take off in popularity during its inaugural season, Findlay was intrigued with the idea of playing full-contact, competitive hockey again.

But considering how long he had been out of it, and some of the aches and pains he had been dealing with over the years it wasn’t an easy decision by any means. But, when his competitive juices got flowing again, there wasn’t much that could stop him from getting back in the game.

“My back and some other things, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to get into the whole contact and stuff like that,” he said. “But I guess when you have a competitive side you like to compete and you like playing hockey and being around the guys and stuff like that.”

Findlay noted that the Comet’s strong organizational structure and the support of his wife made his decision to join the team a lot more comforting.

As the captain, Findlay looks forward to being a leader on and off the ice, using his experiences, his knowledge of the game and competitiveness to do everything he can to help them win.

“It really takes a person that’s going to step up when something needs to be said, or they’re going to go out and step up on the ice when something needs to happen to change momentum and whatnot,” he said.

Above all else, he can’t wait to finally get on the ice in front of his hometown fans and hopefully give them something to cheer about.

“Although we’re playing in Coulonge, we’re representing the Pontiac really,” he said. “We’re the only team in the area and I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

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