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**esilverm** · 03-18-2022, 01:34 PM

Bonjour, and welcome to my Deep Dive. Today I will be looking at the history of French Players in the SMJHL. For the sake of my sanity, I will only be looking at players who listed France as their home country and played in the SMJHL in the FHM era. For part one, this group of players are those who have played in the SMJHL but have now either gone up to the SHL or have ended their careers by retirement. Part two will discuss players who are actively in the SMJHL and will be playing in this upcoming season.

Arsene Leclerc – Left Defense
S55 Armada

S56-57(8?) Outlaws

SMJHL totals: 173gp 22g 51a 73pts +14 99pim 117bs 160hit
Arsene Leclerc is the first French player on our list. From Strasbourg, France this Defenseman started his career as a DFA on the Armada and was drafted to the Outlaws in the S56 SMJHL draft. Now, a player on the Minnesota Monarchs, Arsene has grown to be a very strong defenseman who is strong in the shot blocking category and isn’t afraid to lay the body on his opponents.

Luc Blouin – Right Defense
S56 Whalers

S57-59

S60

SMJHL totals: 268gp 29g 96a 125pts +68 76pim 199bs 154hit
Blouin, like Leclerc, played his first games as a DFA but this time on Vancouver. Born in Grenoble, France, this Blouin played a very strong two way game in his time down in the Juniors. Now in the SHL on the Tampa Bay Barracuda, Blouin continues to put up good points totals as well as strong numbers in the shot blocking and hits categories. It is easy to see that this player’s future is bright.

Jake Peralta – Left Wing
S56-57 Berserkers

SMJHL totals: 25gp 2g 0a 2pts -7 4pim 18bs 16hit
Jake Peralta, a LW from Lyon, France is one of the few French players whose careers ended just as quick as they started. Only having played 25 games over two seasons and going inactive soon after creating, Peralta was a strong IFA who teams could look to for a fourth line player who could help fill out their roster and potentially put some pucks in the net.

Jean-Locke Zidane – Right Defense
S57 Scarecrows

S58-60

SMJHL totals: 264gp 27g 81a 108pts +35 315pim 320bs 910hit
From Amiens, France comes Jean-Locke Zidane, a defender with a body of steel. In his four seasons down in the SMJHL, this Frenchman put up over 900 hits and 300 blocked shots, and has matched those same totals in his last 3 seasons up in the SHL playing for the New Orleans Specters. This guy is a strong pick for any fantasy-heads on this site and looks to be approaching a title for best Defensive player (if you ignore his penalty minutes).

Noel Blanchet – Center (now plays Right Wing)
S57-60 Raptors

SMJHL totals: 264gp 48g 126a 174pts +34 92pim 148bs 345hit
Here we have yet another player from Lyon, France. Noel Blanchet is one of the strongest French forwards in the SHL to date. With 174 points in his four seasons down in the SMJHL and 118 in his 3 season SHL career with more to come, if there was a French IIHF team, this guy would be leading the forward core.

IStawp Puques – Goalie
S58 Outlaws

SMJHL Totals: 23gp 5w 12l 0otl 4.3gaa 0.890s%
This goalie from Lyon, France doesn’t have much of a career in the SMJHL, but what can be said, is that he is currently playing for the Toronto North Stars as a backup goalie and has put up 5 wins and 3 losses in his time there.

Francois Gagne – Center
S59

SMJHL totals: 57gp 3g 16a 19pts -16 18pim 27bs 36hit
Gagne is a now-retired player who had a short career in the juniors, playing only one season for the Citadelles.

I will continue this history in the second part of this deep dive (yes the players will be different)