Ethan Coups played for H-P Minor Midget Lakers a year ago
By Pat Payton
St. Marys Lincolns’ Director of Hockey Operations and GM Greg Smale recently obtained a third card from the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) for a 16-year-old player.
“We applied for a third card and we got it,” Smale told the Independent last week.
It allows the Lincs to sign left-shooting defenceman Ethan Coups for the 2020-21 season. A year ago, the Goderich native was a member of the Huron-Perth Lakers ‘AAA’ Minor Midgets. He was a seventh-round draft pick of the OHL’s Guelph Storm this past summer.
Coups, who is listed at 6 ft., 2 inches and 185 lbs., had four goals, 26 points and 99 penalty minutes in 46 games with the Lakers last season. He added 12 points and 36 penalty minutes in 17 playoff games.
Coups turns 16 on Oct. 27.
16-year-old forwards
Lincolns’ two other 16-year-olds are forwards Owen Van Steensel and Jack Piper.
Van Steensel was captain of the Elgin-Middlesex Minor Midget Chiefs last season. The Ilderton native had 23 goals and 62 points in 33 games. The 5 ft., 9 inch, 160 lb. Van Steensel was taken in the fourth round, 63rd overall, by the North Bay Battalion.
Piper, meanwhile, went in the fifth round, 90th overall, to the Owen Sound Attack.
He played for the York-Simcoe Minor Midgets a year ago, leading the Express in scoring with 32 goals and 46 points in 33 ETAHL games. In seven playoff games, he added four goals.
Piper hails from the town of Schomberg, just east of Orangeville, and possesses a great shot.
“We’re pretty happy with our three 16-year-olds, a seventh, a fifth and a fourth-round pick in the OHL,” Smale summed up. “Those are three really good pick-ups.”
Sinden dealt to Woodstock
In other Lincs news, GM Smale dealt veteran forward Griffin Sinden, 19, to the Woodstock Jr. ‘C’ Navy-Vets this summer. It was a straight cash deal.
The Tillsonburg native came to the Lincolns last December in a trade with the London Nationals. The big winger had four goals and eight points in 19 games with St. Marys. Sinden was injured and unable to play in the five-game playoff series win over the Strathroy Rockets.
