Former WHL, SJHL forward Fontaine commits to Spartans for 2016/17

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Trinity Western University men’s hockey coach Barret Kropf officially announced the commitment of former WHL and SJHL forward Jarrett Fontaine (Humboldt, Sask.) on Monday for the 2016/17 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season.

The highly-touted offensive star will join the Spartans with a combined 296 games of junior hockey experience at the Junior “A” and Major Junior levels.

Fontaine joins already-signed forward Kyle Star (Langley) as the Spartans first two commitments for 2016. The 5-foot-5, 165-pound Fontaine, who is a graduate of Humboldt Collegiate Institute, comes to TWU with a resume that includes 132 games in the WHL with the Prince George Cougars and another 164 games in the SJHL with the Humboldt Broncos and the Weyburn Red Wings.

“Jarrett is a great addition to Spartans hockey,” said Kropf of the 20-year-old Fontaine. “He is everything we are looking for to keep building our culture of strong leaders on and off the ice. His pedigree speaks for itself in that he has been a leader in both the WHL and SJHL. We will be looking for that same strength as he works towards his degree and helps us work towards our first championship.”

Starting his junior career with Prince George in 2011, Fontaine scored 10 goals and added 16 assists in two seasons with the Cougars. Following his second season in the WHL, Fontaine returned to his hometown Broncos, where he played the better part of three seasons, putting up 42 goals and 49 assists in 146 games.

He was sent to Weyburn at the trade deadline this past January and tallied four goals and six assists in 18 games with the Red Wings before adding a goal and three assists in five playoff games.

Fontaine has also donned the Maple Leaf as he represented Canada West at the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

“I am very excited to come in and learn in a field of study that I am passionate about,” said Fontaine, who plans to study communications at TWU. “The bonus is that I get to continue to play the sport I love. I am excited to meet new people and share new experiences. TWU seems like an excellent fit for me and I can’t wait to get out there.”

The Spartans are coming off a 2015-16 campaign in which they finished the regular season with a 13-9-0-2 record before advancing to the BCIHL championship series for the second time in three seasons. TWU lost to Selkirk College in the best-of-three league final.