The Espanola Paper Kings are a
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
Junior "A" ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team based out of
Espanola, Ontario. They are members of the
Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) and play their home games at the Espanola Regional Recreational Complex.
History
The Express were one of two
expansion teams
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
that entered the league prior to the start of the 2015–16 season. The team hired former NHL forward
Tom McCarthy as its first head coach. McCarthy had previously coached the
Espanola Rivermen prior to the teams disbandment.
The team played its first game on September 11, 2015, losing at home 4-1 to the
Rayside-Balfour Canadians before a crowd of 346. After losing the first six games in franchise history, the team picked up its first victory with a 3-2 win against the
Blind River Beavers
The Blind River Beavers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Blind River, Ontario
Blind River is a town situated on the North Channel (Ontario), North Channel of Lake Huron in the Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. The town, named after the n ...
. Espanola made the playoffs in their first season just ahead of the
Blind River Beavers
The Blind River Beavers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Blind River, Ontario
Blind River is a town situated on the North Channel (Ontario), North Channel of Lake Huron in the Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. The town, named after the n ...
. However, they fell to the Soo Eagles in a best-of-three series 2 games to 0. Espanola finished last in the league attendance wise, averaging only 181 fans per game.
In August 2016, coach McCarthy announced he was taking a head coaching position with
HSC Csíkszereda in the
Romanian Hockey League but would also remain involved with the Express as one of the owners. Co-coach Jason Rapcewicz took over as head coach. However, after one season, McCarthy returned to Espanola and the head coaching position. He left again after one season and was replaced by Dave Clancy from the
Rayside-Balfour Canadians.
Prior to the 2019–20 season,
Jason Rapcewicz became the sole owner of the team and took over as general manager from former owner Chad Clarke.
Season-by-season records
References
Further reading
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External links
Espanola Express webpage
{{NOJHL
Ice hockey teams in Ontario
Sport in Northern Ontario
2015 establishments in Ontario
Ice hockey clubs established in 2015