River Lions can’t wait for home opener

Guillaume Boucard (9), show in this file shot, has added to his offensive arsenal and will be a key member of the Niagara River Lions this season.

It was an easy sell to get Guillaume Boucard on board as a member of the Niagara River Lions for the inaugural season of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.

“It was my experience from last year,” he said. “I really enjoyed playing with the Niagara River Lions the last season and it was nice to see the familiar faces in the coaching staff and with the teammates that I will be playing with this summer.”

Niagara head coach/GM Victor Raso was a selling point for the 29-year-old Montreal native.

“He is somebody that I have already played with in the past and I also played for him when he was an assistant coach at Carleton University,” he said. “That definitely helped make the decision easy for the summer.”

The reigning Canadian of the Year in the National Basketball League of Canada — he averaged 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game playing for the St. John’s Edge and the Island Storm — is looking forward to Thursday’s home opener at 7 p.m. at the Meridian Centre against the Edmonton Stingers.

“Obviously everybody is excited for it and I think it’s going to be exciting for the team and the league,” the 6-foot-5 guard said. “I am pretty sure there is going to be a lot of people there too.

“I loved the fan base when I was playing there last year and I am excited to be able to play again at the Meridian Centre.”

Raso is thrilled to have a proven winner back with the River Lions. Boucard won five straight Canadian university championships with the Carleton Ravens.

“Guillaume has drastically improved his offensive skill set over the last year,” Raso said. “His combination of explosiveness on the perimeter and ability to post up smaller forwards has always made him difficult to cover, but now he’s shooting the three at a much higher percentage which forces teams to respect him on the perimeter.”

Boucard likes where his game is going.

“This past season helped me to be confident with my skills, be more aggressive and make better reads on the floor,” he said. “The Island Storm gave me confidence and freedom to kind of be me out there and give everything I got.

“I just kind of grew from that and I am thankful for that.”

Raso is excited with what Boucard brings to the floor.

“We will use Guillaume in many different ways and we will ask him to influence the game in many different ways because of his unique skill set and competitive drive.”

Boucard feels he is far from a finished product as a basketball player.

“I still have a lot of things to work on,” he said. “I think my passing still needs to improve and I need to get a consistent three as one of my weapons.

“If I can get those two to the next level, that will help me in my career.”

Niagara split its two opening games of league play last weekend, including a 118-105 overtime loss to Edmonton. Boucard liked what he saw in the first two games.

“We have some fight,” he said. “Some of the times we put ourselves into some holes, but we always came fighting back and competed to the end.

That compete level is something Boucard was looking for this summer.

“I wanted to be in an environment where I could compete the whole time and just grow from it.”
The former pro player in France expects the team to get better as the players becomes more familiar with one another.

“Training camp was short and we all came from different teams and different experiences,” he said. ‘We need to find a little bit of chemistry but with the group we have, it shouldn’t take too long.”

Members of Niagara’s front office are also happy to be back in business.

“It has just been over a year since we played in the Meridian Centre so there’s a lot of excitement, a lot of nerves and a lot of everything,” said Michelle Biskup, Niagara’s director of operations.

Biskup, who travelled on the team’s western road trip last week taking notes on how other teams did things, is looking forward to showing Niagara’s new players what it’s like to play at the Meridian Centre.

“I can’t wait to have them in the building in front of our great and loyal fans that have been around for the last three seasons, “ she said.

There are a number of added attractions planned for Thursday night, including a photo booth, a caricature artist, a stilt walker courtside, a break dance group from Toronto performing at halftime and a few other surprises.

“From the moment fans walk in, they are going to notice a difference,” Biskup said. “It’s going to be amped up all season long, but the home opener even more so.”

Biskup doesn’t have an exact count of how many season’s tickets have been sold, but it has already exceeded any previous year when Niagara played in the National Basketball League of Canada. She expects the opening crowd to exceed 2,500.

“Since the players arrived in town, the momentum has really picked up,” she said. “Having them in town makes it more real for everyone.”

Corporate response has also been excellent, both at the national and local level.