Voodoos busy before trade deadline
The Powassan Voodoos made a pair of moves before the Canadian Junior Hockey League Trade Deadline, which was at 6 p.m. on January 10.
Their biggest move was re-acquiring forward Jax Pereira from the North Bay Battalion, the Voodoos' OHL affiliate team.
The 16-year-old Uxbridge product had 3 goals and 3 assists in 21 games with the Troops this season. He started the season with the Voodoos, where he netted 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points in 10 games before his early November call-up to the OHL team. Pereira was a 4th round selection of the Battalion in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the U16 AAA Toronto Jr. Canadiens program.
"Getting Jax back is huge," said Peter Goulet, Voodoos head coach about Pereira, who was a 4th round selection of the Battalion in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the U16 AAA Toronto Jr. Canadiens program.
“Of all the players we talked about going after before the deadline, none were close to the calibre of Jax Pereira.”
Goulet calls Pereira a “complete player.”
“He's going to be a high-end OHL player,” said Goulet.
“He'll be a high-end player for us this year. We are super excited that he came back. He's going to be great for us. The North Bay Battalion, President Adam Dennis and GM Johnny Winstanley should be commended for asking Jax what he wanted to do, and Jax wanted to play every night. He's going play for us, and we believe it will be a big benefit for his development, being able to play for us and still practice and play games as an affiliate with the Battalion.”
In another move late last week, the Voodoos acquired 20-year-old defenceman Bruce Grey from the Espanola Paper Kings for second-year defenceman Reid de Bokx.
Grey knows the league well. The West Vancouver, B.C. product has more than 130 games of NOJHL experience split between Kirkland Lake, Iroquois Falls and Espanola, where he had only dressed for two games before the deal.
In 30 games this season, Grey has 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points.
However, Goulet says it was tough seeing de Bokx go.
“Reid is a good kid,” noted Goulet.
“He's been around our team for three years now, and I wish Reed the best of luck in Espanola. I think it's a new start for him. It's a good opportunity, and we received Bruce Grey back in return. You can never discount 133 games of a junior ‘A’ experience in our league and 59 points in those games. I thought you played a solid game in this debut for us Friday night, and we are looking forward to seeing him grow with this hockey team and help us win more games.”
