The Bombers have yet another player moving on to play university hockey this coming season. Goaltender Jacob Delorme has committed to play with the USports Concordia Stingers.
The team announced Delorme's commitment to the program August 14, including that Delorme's commitment is for the 2020/21 season. The 20-year-old netminder from Drummondville, Que. has one season of junior eligibility remaining.
"We are very happy for Jacob and want to wish him all the best. We want all of our players to move on to a higher level but it's a bitter sweet feeling losing Jacob," said Bombers head coach and general manager Mike Reagan in a statement issued by the team.
"He has been a big part of our success and a great Bomber for the past two seasons."
A former pupil of ex-NHL goaltender Felix Potvin, Delorme came to the team's training camp in 2018 and earned the backup goalie spot under then-new goaltender Pierce Diamond.
Last year, Delorme was the team's number one netminder, playing over a dozen games in a row when the team was looking for a permanent backup. Delorme finished the season with a 3.05 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .910 save percentage (SV%) in 39 games, then took a step forward in the playoffs, finishing three games with a 2.00 GAA and a .936 SV%.
Delorme will join what is already a crowded Concordia crease. Three goaltenders from last season's Stingers' squad are eligible to return. One of those three is former Bomber Kyle Jessiman, who left the Stingers last year, played a handful of games in Flin Flon as a platoon mate with Delorme, then left the team following the December roster freeze and rejoined the Stingers. Delorme could return to play for the Bombers next season, similar to how Jessiman joined the club last year.
Delorme is the eighth Bomber from last year's team to commit to a university or college program. Forwards Donavan Houle-Villeneuve and Tristan Lemyre both committed to NCAA Division I programs at the Univ. of Maine and Denver University.
Alec Malo and Cole Rafuse will go the USports route, playing at Acadia Univ. and the Univ. of Manitoba, while defencemen Dane Hirst and Troy Quinn will go to NCAA Division III programs at Aurora Univ. and the Univ. of Wisconsin-Superior. Caleb Franklin, a jack-of-all-trades forward for the club for the past two seasons, will play college hockey in B.C. with Vancouver Island University.
The Bombers currently have two goalies committed to the team this year - 19-year-old Cal Schell and 18-year-old newcomer Jared Thompson.
