Junior Miners Land All Star Goaltender

The 20 year-old Barrie, Ontario native played for the Windsor Royals of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League last season, recording 13 wins, 5 losses, a 1.70 goals against average, .950 save percentage while posting 5 shutouts in 18 games. He was selected as the Leagues Best Goaltender and 1st All Star Goaltender in the Fred Fox Division.

McKendry was selected by the Junior Miners earlier this month when the Windsor Royals franchise applied to the league's Board of Governors, and was granted, a 1 year leave of absense. As a result, the NSJHL Constitution dictates that all players must be dispersed immediately to the remaining NSJHL teams via a draft. The Miners had the 5th and 15th picks which were based on last years final regular season standings.

“We had him at the top of our list but to be honest we weren't expecting him to be there when we made our first pick”, commented Junior Miners General Manager Jordan Evasuk-MacDonald. For us to add a goalie with Jake's credentials was a opportunity we couldn't pass up, although we had no guarantee at the time if he would report or not.” 

McKendry joins goaltender Scott MacDonald who was named 2nd All Star Goaltender in the Sid Rowe Division on the Junior Miners last season.

“We now have a very solid group of goalies vying for two starting positions. It will be our strongest position at training camp and it will boil down to who performs the best, leading up to the start of the season.” added Evasuk-MacDonald. 

McKendry will attend Cape Breton University enrolling as a 3rd year student in the Finance Program. 

With the 15th pick, the Junior Miners selected Logan Phillips, a 21 year old center who hails from Kentville. Phillips played in 31 games for the Royals last season where he recorded 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) and 45 penalty minutes.