ESPANOLA—The Espanola team in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League is sporting a new name, the Paper Kings.
The new team’s name was announced by the Espanola franchise recently, for the 2022-2023 season.
“Coming out of COVID-19, we felt it was the right time for a fresh start and a rebrand for our organization,” offered Espanola president and head coach Jason Rapcewicz in a release. He explained the organization decided to change the team’s name to provide a greater depiction of the town and its main industry.
Mr. Rapcewicz said, “we as an organization felt that it is time to represent more of what Espanola is. It has a rich history of being a town of paper makers, with multiple generations of families that have been employed making paper for over 100 years. We feel that our name change to the Espanola Paper Kings is more relatable and a greater representation of the Town of Espanola and its residents.”
Sporting a new look, the team colours will consist of white, blue, green and gold while its logo offers an innovative appearance.
Mr. Rapcewicz, the sole owner of the team, lives in Espanola, and aims to become a more community-oriented organization.
“We as a team would like to become more integrated in the community and spend more time giving back to organizations such as the local food bank, seniors centres, schools and any local organization that can use some help,” said Mr. Rapcewicz.
Mr. Rapcewicz went on to state, “although we embraced the Express name, and the time we had under it, we are excited to be moving forward with the rebrand and are enthusiastic for the upcoming 2022-2023 season.”
Espanola is slated to begin their campaign Friday, September 9 as they host the Cochrane Crunch, in their home opener.
