Yet another player heads to Europe
Foudy to join professional team playing in country's third division until OHL resumes
The Windsor Spitfires continue to be a pipeline for players heading to Europe while the club pauses play during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forward Jean-luc Foudy is the latest member of the Spitfires that is off to Europe to play hockey. He heads out Saturday to join Morrums GOIS IK in Sweden.
“Just with the season getting delayed again, I kind of talked to my parents and I just want to play hockey,” the 18-year-old Foudy said Thursday. “I thought it was best to go over there and get some games under my belt.
“I pushed for it. My agent (Thane Campbell of Pro Counsel International Inc. in Mississauga) did the talking and the contacting of teams over there.”
While Foudy was a third-round pick in last month's NHL draft by the Colorado Avalanche, Morrums GOIS IK will be the first professional team he plays for with the club competing in Sweden's 12-team third tier Hockeyettan Sodra.
“I guess I can say I signed my first pro contract,” Foudy said.
Spitfires teammates Louka Henault, Matthew Maggio and Egor Afanasyev have been loaned to junior teams overseas. Maggio is still looking for his first point after three games with SK Legon U20 in Sweden, while Henault has a goal and three points in three games for Kiekko-espoo U20 in Finland. Afanasyev was loaned to the junior Krasnaya Armiya Moskva in Russia where he has two goals in two games, but he's also been with Russia's national junior team and was called up by CSKA Moskva in the Kontinental Hockey League and had a goal and two points in his debut.
“I've talked (to teammates over there) a bit,” Foudy said. “Just to see about getting over there and how's their experience. They seem to be enjoying it.”
Foudy's deal with Morrums GOIS IK, as with his teammates, is simply a loan by the Spitfires.
If the Ontario Hockey League's plan for a season to begin on
Feb. 4 stays on track, Foudy will have to get back to Windsor by Jan. 8 for a mandatory 14-day quarantine for COVID-19 leading up to training camp on Jan. 23.
“Part of the agreement is that, whenever Windsor wants me back, I'll be back,” Foudy said.
A gifted skater, the six-foot, 188-pound Foudy should excel on the big ice surfaces in Sweden, which should also help him get in game shape for when he returns to Canada.
“That's what people are saying to me,” Foudy said. “The big ice will suit my game well and I'll be able to use my skill well.”
And unlike when he returns to Canada, Foudy will not have to quarantine once he arrives in Sweden.
“I can get right into it,” Foudy said. “I could play Sunday, but probably on Wednesday. I haven't played since March 12th and to be able to play my first game will be fun.
“They talk about grown man strength (playing pro) and I'll get the experience and good competition. I know I'll be playing against good competition and I know it'll be good hockey.”