The Timmins Rock have acquired forward Dawson Boily from the OJHL’s Aurora Tigers in exchange for a player development fee. Boily had an opportunity to practice with his new teammates at the McIntyre Arena this week, demonstrating a fierce desire to compete, especially during one-on-one drills like this one against Henry McLellan as he uses his strength to shield the puck. Boily is expected to make his Rock debut during Sunday afternoon’s game at the McIntyre Arena against the Iroquois Falls Storm. THOMAS PERRY/THE DAILY PRESS jpg, TD, apsmc
The Timmins Rock have transferred the rights to the NOJHL team’s leading scorer, forward Brant Romaniuk, to the QMJHL’s Les Olympique de Gatineau in exchange for a player development fee.
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
It should be noted, however, the Rock maintain Romaniuk’s Junior ‘A’ rights, if his time in the QMJHL doesn’t go well.
Meanwhile, the Rock have acquired forward Dawson Boily from the OJHL’s Aurora Tigers, also in exchange for a player development fee.
Romaniuk (9, 9-5-14, 4), who just turned 17 on Friday, had been in his third season with the Rock after turning in a solid rookie campaign in 2023-24 (57, 23-34-57, 27) and productive 2024 playoffs (11, 8-5-13, 4).
His 14 points had him tied with five other players for third place in the NOJHL scoring race, while his nine goals had him ranked third in that category.
He began his Rock career as an affiliate player in 2022-23 (5, 1-2-3, 0) and also appeared in the 2023 playoffs (2, 0-2-2, 0).
“The plan was to get Brant in here as a 16 year old (2023-24 season), get him the experience he needed, get him the minutes he needed, develop him the best we could and get him to Major Junior,” said Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry.
“When we got him back this summer, it was like, okay, we are going to have another season with him, but obviously he had the start he had and it is so well deserved.
“He is a kid who works extremely hard, competes extremely hard, knows what he wants, knows what kind of player he is and he lets people know when he is open and wants to puck. That’s the reason he had the success he did on the ice.
“I have never seen a kid as hungry as he is who wants to score goals that bad and, obviously, that’s what he did for us. I couldn’t be more proud of him. This move is great for him and it’s great for our organization.”
The coach has always been impressed with Romaniuk’s persistence.
“He was told no a couple of times this summer,” Perry said. “As an undrafted kid, he went to a couple of camps this summer, got told no again, but kept working, kept working, kept working and now look where he is.
“It’s a testament to his character and to his work ethic.”
There was a slight delay in the official announcement of the transaction sending Romaniuk to Les Olympique, as he had to first clear waivers through the OHL, since he is an Ontario-born player.
Even though Romaniuk’s nine goals represents 20.9 per cent of the Rock’s offensive output through nine games, Perry isn’t too worried about his team’s ability to put the puck in the net moving forward.
“We have got guys on our team who can score goals,” he said. “Some guys will have to play a little harder night-in and night-out, but we have guys who can step up and produce, maybe not produce as much as Brant would have, but we are confident in our lineup, confident in our forward depth, even in our back end’s ability to generate offence.
“We don’t need a lot of it. We are an extremely structured team that takes care of our own end and we have two great goalies (Dryden Riley and Graham Gee). We don’t need to be beating teams 9-1, 10-1, all we care about are the two points.”
With Romaniuk now in Gatineau, the Rock still have two five goal scorers in Jack Kelly (9, 5-5-10, 2) and Kaeden McArthur (9, 5-5-10, 4) and a trio of three-goal marksmen in rookie Alexis Tremblay (9, 3-4-7, 2), Ryan Armitage (8, 3-3-6, 2) and rookie Travis Poan (7, 3-1-4, 0).
A combination of injuries and illnesses, as well as the departure of Romaniuk, leaves the Rock lineup a little depleted, one of the reasons they acquired Boily (5, 1-1-2, 0) from the Tigers.
The left-shooting, 2006-birth-year Newmarket product, who stands 6-1 and weighs in at 203 pounds, plays a much different game than Romaniuk, however, and fans shouldn’t expect him to score at a goal-a-game pace.
“We are not going to put a label on him, or put him into a box,” Perry said. “He is going to work as hard as he can every day and capitalize on the opportunities he gets.
“He is going to be a great player. We have watched a ton of video on him. He works extremely hard, he is big, he is strong, protects the puck well.
“We are going to get him up to speed here on our systems, get him to play at the pace we want to play at and I think he is going to do just fine in our lineup.”
During one-on-one drills at practice this week, Boily demonstrated his fierce, hate-to-lose competitiveness and a knack for protecting the puck.
“He is a heavy kid, in good shape and we have really liked what we have seen from him,” Perry said.
Boily describes himself as “a huge grinder,” who gets on the boards and digs hard.
“I am a big back-checker, big fore-checker, that net-front type of guy,” he said, during a break from practice.
“That’s my game. I just need to work on the scoring, but it will come with time.”
Being a defence-first, responsible forward, Boily should have little trouble fitting into the Rock’s style of play.
“I just have to make sure I stay on top of my game and not run around, play my position and work hard defensively and offensively,” he said.
If the intensity Boily displayed during one-on-one drills at practice translates into game action, he will likely quickly become a fan favourite.
“I can’t wait to start playing here, it seems like an unreal organization,” he said.
Growing up, Boily tried to pattern his game after Pittsburgh Penguins great Sidney Crosby.
“He is smart, he gets pucks to the net all the time and he is a true leader,” Boily said.
“That’s what my goal is here, to be a leader on the team and have fun with the boys and, of course, win a big championship.”
Boily’s first impressions of Timmins and the Rock organization have certainly been positive.
“I love Timmins, I am a big fan of the country and my billet parents are great,” he said.
“The boys are great and this whole organization is just unreal. I have felt really welcome since my first day here.”
According to Perry, Boily will be in the lineup on Sunday when the Rock host the Iroquois Falls Storm at the McIntyre Arena, at 1 p.m., although the coach wouldn’t commit to who his linemates might be for the contest.
“Not right now, we have got guys injured, we have got guys sick, it’s been kind of like that the last two weeks,” he said. “We will see who we have healthy Sunday and put some lines together, go from there.”
Speaking of injuries, blue-liner Tenzin Nyman (6, 0-3-3, 0) and forward Reece Liu (4, 1-0-1, 2) were both on the ice for practice this week, although each wore red, non-contact jerseys.
“Obviously, any time guys who are injured get back on the ice, it’s exciting for the team, it’s exciting for them to see them get one step closer,” Perry said.
“It is early in the season and we are going to take our time with them. We want to win in April. We want to win now, too, but we want to win when it counts (the playoffs) and make sure everybody is healthy. So, we are going to listen to the medical professionals.”
The official status for both Nyman and Liu remains week-to-week, at this point.
