Voodoos trade for Battalion goaltender
The Powassan Voodoos have acquired Cole Vreugdenhil from the Haliburton County Huskies of the OJHL for a development fee on the weekend.
Vreugdenhil, a fifth round pick of the North Bay Battalion in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection got his first win with the Voodoos in a 5-1 victory over the Soo Eagles on Saturday night.
“I'm super excited for sure to get started with the Voodoos and I think it'll be a great opportunity not only with North Bay, but it's a new group of guys and the NOJHL is a great league, so I think I can really develop well,” said Vreugdenhil, who made 37 saves in his first NOJHL win.
Adam Dennis, Battalion president and director of hockey operations, feels having Vreugdenhil in Powassan with their NOJHL affiliate, will be a benefit for the young goaltender.
“Cole is a highly regarded prospect for us and we are thrilled to have him close,” said Dennis.
“We have had a lot of success with young goalies in Powassan and I have no doubt Cole is ready to follow in the footsteps of those before him.”
Chris Dawson, Voodoos general manager, sees a lot of parallels between Vreugdenhil and another big Battalion prospect in Joe Vrbetic who went on to a solid OHL career and was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
“There are a lot of similarities between big Joe and Cole,” said Dawson about the 6’3” netminder.
“Vrbetic had a great season of development in 2018-19 with us, he won a playoff series for us over Kirkland Lake, and Cole got off to a great start and is already earning the respect of his older teammates which hopefully is a great sign of bigger things to come,” said Dawson.
Vreugdenhil joined Vrbetic as the only two Voodoos goaltenders to win an NOJHL game at the age of 15, as the Hannon, Ontario product doesn’t turn 16 until November 3.
Much like Vrbetic, Vreugdenhil is also vying for a spot on Team Canada for the 2025 U17 World Hockey Challenge, which takes place October 31 to November 8 in Truro, Nova Scotia.
“I just hope I can live up to the expectation of him,” said Vruegdenhil about the comparisons.
“I heard he is a good goalie, so I just hope I can do the same for the fans.”
The Voodoos (2-0) are back in action on the road Thursday to face the Greater Sudbury Cubs.
