Cornwall Nationals and River Drivers rivalry to heat up

Cornwall Ontario – The expansion Cornwall Nationals have developed a fiery Federal Hockey League rivalry with the Berlin River Drivers. That rivalry will only intensify this weekend as the teams meet three times in three days.

Cornwall travels to Berlin tonight (8 p.m.) before hosting the River Drivers on Saturday evening at the Ed Lumley Arena inside the Civic Complex.
Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $13 for adults, $10 for seniors/students and $5 for children under the age of 12.

Incredibly, the two teams are back in action on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m.) in Berlin.

In player news, Jason Lepine is out for a week with a lower body injury. Meanwhile, the Cornwall Nationals have released Danick Poirier and Julien Gauthier.

Trottier new Nationals bench boss

Alexandria’s Joel Trottier is the new head coach of the Cornwall Nationals.

The Nationals captain, who has been dealing with a nagging groin injury, is hanging up the skates.

Trottier has agreed to coach the team for the remainder of this season as well as the 2017-18 Federal Hockey League campaign.

In 32 games with the Cornwall Nationals, Trottier scored 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points. But, a long FHL schedule has taken its toll on Trottier, who turned 40 in February.

Trottier, who starred with the Ottawa 67’s in the Ontario Hockey League, was a draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 1997.

The veteran quit his full-time job at the start of the season to be a full-time player/coach for the Nationals and despite a rocky inaugural season, Trottier has kept a positive outlook for this franchise’s future.

While the expansion Cornwall Nationals are well out of the FHL playoff race, general manager Basem Awwad and Trottier will take this opportunity to treat the remainder of the season as a tryout for players who are looking for jobs next season.

Owner Will Beauvais and team president Rodney Rivette are fully supportive of the transition.