Jason La Rose
Thirty-two years in the making, the Navan Grads are finally going to play under the brightest lights in Junior A hockey.
The Grads claimed their first-ever Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) championship – and earned a place at the 2024 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons, in the process – by downing the Pembroke Lumber Kings, Rockland Nationals and Smiths Falls Bears.
Amazingly, the three series wins brought the Grads’ all-time total to FOUR since joining the CCHL (then known as the Central Junior A Hockey League) in 1991. The only previous victory? A sweep of the Kanata Stallions in 2003.
Navan was the class of the CCHL in the regular season, finishing 11 points clear of Smiths Falls on the back of a league-best offence (235 goals scored) led by Gabriel Crete (24-50—74) and Devon Savignac (35-31—66), who were third and fourth, respectively in CCHL scoring.
At the other end of the ice, Jaeden Nelson was a workhorse; the 17-year-old rookie was fourth in the CCHL with 2,173 minutes played, and posted top-five finishes in wins (25, first) goals-against average (2.57, fourth), save percentage (.921, third) and shutouts (3, tied for third).
The Grads ran into early adversity in the playoffs, pushed to double overtime in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Lumber Kings with the series even at 2-2. But Sebbie Johnson scored the winner, Navan closed out the series in Game 6 and never trailed in a series again.
It’s been 13 years since Pembroke won the most recent National Junior A Championship by a CCHL team. It has been in the mix over the last decade, though; the Ottawa Jr. Senators reached the semifinals in 2018 , 2019 and 2023, while the Carleton Place Canadians were national runners-up in 2014 and 2015.
HOW THEY GOT TO OAKVILLE
Central Canada Hockey League Quarterfinal: defeated Pembroke Lumber Kings 4-2 (5-1, 2-1 OT, 1-3, 1-5, 5-4 2OT, 4-3) Semifinal: defeated Rockland Nationals 4-1 (5-4. 1-0 OT, 4-6, 5-3, 1-0) Final: defeated Smiths Falls Bears 4-2 (3-2 OT, 3-4 OT, 4-1, 3-2, 0-5, 5-2)
REGULAR SEASON
Record (W-L-OTL): 41-9-5 (1st in CCHL) Goals for: 235 (1st in CCHL) Goals against: 144 (3rd in CCHL) Power play: 36 for 183 (19.7% - 5th in CCHL) Penalty killing: 186 of 216 (86.1% - 3rd in CCHL) Longest winning streak: 9 (Feb. 23-March 16)
Top 3 scorers: • Gabriel Crete – 24G 50A 74P (3rd in CCHL) • Devon Savignac – 35G 31A 66P (4th in CCHL) • Sebbie Johnson – 24G 25A 49P (23rd in CCHL)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 12-5 Goals for: 52 Goals against: 46 Power play: 11 for 60 (18.3%) Penalty killing: 53 of 61 (86.9%)
Top 3 scorers: • Colin MacDougall – 10G 11A 21P • Sebbie Johnson – 6G 12A 18P • Nicholas Paone – 7G 7A 14P
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
First appearance
COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY COMMITMENTS
Gabriel Crete – Mercyhurst University (2024-25) Cristobal Tola – Amherst College (2024-25) Matthew Roy – Bowdoin College (2024-25) Devon Savignac – Concordia University Wisconsin (2024-25)
CJHL TOP 20 RANKINGS
Oct. 2 – not ranked Oct. 9 – not ranked Oct. 16 – not ranked Oct. 23 – not ranked Oct. 30 – Honourable Mention Nov. 6 – Honourable Mention Nov. 13 – 20th Nov. 20 – 18th Nov. 27 – 17th Dec. 4 – 17th Dec. 11 – 13th Dec. 18 – 14th Jan. 8 – 11th Jan. 15 – 13th Jan. 22 – 16th Jan. 29 – 11th Feb. 5 – 11th Feb. 12 – 6th Feb. 19 – 7th Feb. 26 – 7th March 4 – 7th March 11 – 5th