The Civics are proud to announce that last year’s captain Riley Nadeau has officially announced his commitment to play college hockey at Niagara University for the upcoming 2020-2021 season.

Nadeau, the Espanola, Ontario native who was born in Jackson, Mississippi, authored the greatest single season in Civics history. With the first 100 point season in the team’s years, Nadeau set franchise records in Points (100), Assists (65) and became the Civics all-time scoring leader with a career total of 164 points in 82 games and a career average of 2 Points per game. The former top 10 NOJHL goal scorer also added 4 power play goals, 1 while shorthanded and 3 of his goals stood as the game winner. Nadeau returned to Captain the Civics this season after previously serving as captain and leading scorer during the 2017-2018 season.

For the first time in league history a single player won the Top Forward Award and the Most Sportsmanlike award when Nadeau took home both in his record setting season. He was also named the MVP and the Forward of the Year at the Civics team awards.

Nadeau, was extremely thankful for his time with the Civics, “I had a lot of fun playing in New Tec and under Coach Dennis, he’s a smart coach and a good role model. He allowed me to play my game and gave me a lot of freedom and trust with being in charge of the room and leading the team he gave me the chance to improve myself not only as a hockey player and a leader but as a person as well. I would also like to thank the whole coaching and management staff because they are a very approachable bunch of people who are easy going and also are able to maintain that respect from the boys. I think New Tec is a great organization with great people and a lot of good boys to have lifelong friendships with. I’m truly great fun for my time there and hope the boys can keep moving forward in the coming years.”

Nadeau is joining a Niagara University Purple Eagles team that are playing in the 1st Division of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA l) and are fresh off a 2019-2020 NECHL Championship and a National Tournament appearance.

Niagara Head Coach Tom Mooradian was very excited about Nadeau’s decision to join him at the Lewiston based university,

“We’re incredibly happy to have added Riley to our roster, earlier this week. I spent a substantial amount of time watching him play in Blind River and New Tecumseth throughout the 2018-2020 timeframe. He and I have built up a pretty strong communicative relationship over the past 2 years and I think that played a major role in his decision to pursue Niagara.

From a hockey perspective, He’s obviously a very gifted offensive talent. However, his drive and approach to the game are the 2 things that have consistently stood out over the past 2 seasons. He always seems to find himself in a primary or secondary leadership role with the teams he plays on and that will undoubtedly translate very well when he begins to compete on the college circuit.

Statistical success, particularly in junior hockey, garners a substantial amount of notoriety. We’re just incredibly pleased to be adding a highly driven individual who wants to compete, game-in and game-out. He proved this past year that he’s ready to handle a top six role right out of the gate and be the type of player we call on to generate offense when we need it the most.”

Following the 2017-2018 season then New Tecumseth Civics Captain Nadeau decided in the offseason he was going to be playing for the Blind River Beavers in the Northern Ontario Junior ‘A’ Hockey League (NOJHL), it was expected that he would be a veteran presence and a leader both on and off the ice with the talent to make a difference, however a difference maker may be an understatement.

Here is a list of the stats and accolades Nadeau was able to obtain during his season with the Beavers:

-Set a Blind River Beavers franchise record by scoring 5 goals in one game on November 18/19.

-Assistant Captain on the Blind River Beavers team.

-Tied for first in goals scored for the season with the top scorer on the team (26 goals).

-NOJHL Player of the week November 19, 2018

-NOJHL honorable mention for player of the month for November 2018

-8 game scoring streak between Nov. 4 and Nov. 30 – 11 goals and 6 helpers for 17 pts.

-Tied on team with most PPG with 8

-Only player on team to play 55 games regular season

-Only Blind River Beaver to score multiple hat trick games (3), including 2 six point games.

-Regular season total points: 48 pts., 26 goals and 22 assists with 12 PIM in 55 games played

-Playoff total points: 9 pts., 2 goals and 7 assists with 4 PIM in 8 games played

-9th Overall in NOJHL Goal Scoring (18th overall in points)

Prior to joining Blind River Nadeau paced the Civics offensively as captain by a wide margin as the talented winger finished the season with more than a point per game average scoring 65 Points in 41 games while leading the team in both goals (25) and assists (39) while adding 4 game winning goals, 4 on the power play and 2 shorthanded all while limiting himself to just 18 PIM all year. At peak Nadeau was ranked the #11 player in the entire Northern Division in the GMHL power rankings. Nadeau’s point total also put him 4th among U20 players (At the time) in the league (1st U20 in North Division and 29th among all players) putting him in an elite group of players including that years South Division MVP Eisai Arai.

The 1998 born forward came to the Civics from the Espanola Express where he was coming off a career year (at the time) in which he had 22 points (8G, 14 A) in 56 games for his hometown team. The Civics 2017-2018 choice for Offensive player of the year has a history of being able to facilitate the game on the ice with his hustle and leadership qualities that numbers don’t always show, but have clearly since caught up with his skill.

Civics GM Jordan Richardson was ecstatic for Nadeau (who billeted with Richardson’s parents this past season), “Nads is one of the best young men we have had in New Tec. It was a pleasure to watch him grow as a player and leader on and off the ice over the last 3 years, and I know he is ready to make the jump to the next level. His commitment to self-improvement when it comes to his skill set and his mind set is mature beyond his years. He has expressed his interest in playing college hockey for a few seasons now and through his hard work he has made it a reality, which should come to no surprise to the people that know Riley. Next for him will be his continued work in becoming a stronger player in order to establish himself as a player to be counted on at NU. I wish him the best of luck and say that getting to know him and his family has been one of the true pleasures in my time in junior hockey.”

Watching a captain leave is never easy, but seeing him advance and knowing he will be successful is something truly special. Nads, all of us in Civic Nation thank you for allowing us to be a part of something special, you will always have a home in New Tecumseth with Civic Nation.