There were plenty of new faces in the Rayside-Balfour Canadians' lineup for the team's first exhibition game of the 2016-2017 campaign.
It showed.
Outshot 48-25, the Canadians were felled 6-1 by the Elliot Lake Wildcats. Veteran Shane Woolsey powered the way for the visitors with a two-goal effort, with solo markers courtesy of Josh Armstrong, Garrett Russell, Brett Jacklin and Carson Andrelloi.
A first period power play goal by Mika David was the only puck that would elude Elliot Lake netminder Justin Richer, as the former Nickel Capital Wolf turned aside 24 of the 25 shots he faced.
Compounding the effects of the loss was a match penalty assessed to Rayside veteran Dylan Callaghan, the result of a collision with and striking of a linesman, which is likely to cost the recent returnee from the QJHL a minimum seven game suspension.
The contest was the first in a Canadians uniform for Jorge Perez, a native of Mexico who was introduced to hockey somewhat by chance.
"I used to play soccer, like every other kid in Mexico, but my sister used to figure skate," said Perez.
"One time, me and my mom went to pick her up at one of her practices, and after figure skating practice, there was a hockey practice. It caught my attention right away."
And though his homeland is a long way from claiming to be a mecca of hockey, things are headed in the right direction.
"At first, it was a little tough," he said. "But since I started playing, there is a lot more interest in the sport, new rinks built, Olympic-size rinks that hold 3,000 people."
In fact, this past January, Mexico City hosted the Division 3 World Junior Hockey Championships, with Iceland, Bulgaria, Israel, New Zealand, Turkey and South Africa all taking part.
Perez captained his team to a promotion to the Division II ranks, with Mexico posting a round robin record of 6-1-0-0.
"The sport is growing a lot in Mexico."
At the age of 15, Perez left home to attend the Banff Hockey Academy, providing him with his first taste of high level hockey. "I didn't really know much about systems, or stuff like that. At night, I would Google the simple things that are automatic to Canadians, but I had to learn them."
After two years in Western Canada, Perez moved east, suiting up with the Hill Academy in Ontario for the 2014-2015 season, before signing on with Rayside-Balfour over the course of the summer.
