LeBlanc brothers sticking together

You can’t have one without the other.

Heading into this Saturday’s Ontario Hockey League draft, twin brothers Jacob and Andrew LeBlanc have made it clear they are a package deal.

Southern Tier Admirals centre Andrew is rated 40th in the draft by prospectpipeline.ca while defenceman Jacob is ranked 91st. One scout has Andrew and Jacob ranked second and third among Niagara-based players.

“We talked with our family advisor and we have decided we are going to go as a package deal,” 15-year-old Jacob said. “We made teams aware of the scenario that we were looking for.”

The siblings didn’t make the decision lightly.

“It might hurt where they pick us and we will probably go lower because we have to work out the package deal, but I think as long as we are able to play together next year, I don’t think we really care where we go.”

Both brothers were on the same page when it came to staying together.

“We’ve been together the whole time throughout our career and we have basically done everything together 24/7. We feel it would be most beneficial if we stick together for the rest of our hockey career,” Jacob said.

All the OHL clubs they informed about their decision were OK with it.

“They have been understanding.”

It was only recently that the brothers decided to play in the OHL.

“It was a tough decision because we had some offers from the NCAA route,” Jacob said. “It was up until last week that we were 50/50 and it wasn’t until two days ago (Sunday) that we finally decided to choose the OHL route,” he said.

There were a couple of reasons why they made their final choice.

“I think it’s just being an Ontario-born kid and it’s everyone’s dream to play in the OHL,” Jacob said. “It’s also closer to home and it is a better fit for us.”

It wasn’t until this season that siblings realized they had a chance to play hockey at the next level.

“There wasn’t much last summer and it mainly started at the beginning of this year,” Jacob said. “After the first couple of tournaments, we started getting our names out there and getting some offers.”

This past season, Jacob had five goals and 27 points in 32 regular-season games for the Admirals and followed that up with three goals and 18 points in 13 playoff games.

Admirals head coach Kevin Rosebrugh loves what he brings to the ice.

“Jacob LeBlanc is a highly skilled offensive defenceman. He has tremendous instincts off the rush and is very creative,” he said. “He makes very good first passes exiting the zone. He has high-end ability at quarterbacking the power play and very good footwork.”

The six foot, 165-pounder feels his biggest improvement this season came in his skating, but he also took other strides as well.

“It was getting faster, stronger and bigger, getting smarter as a player, knowing when to make the right play at the right time and building up my hockey IQ.”

The 15-year-old Port Colborne native knows he will need to get even stronger and bigger to play hockey in the OHL.

“I have to keep working out and I am going to take some skating lessons in the summer too,” he said.

Jacob and his brother have been playing hockey since they were two. They played year or two of house league before jumping to the Port Colborne Sailors rep program. They skated with players two years older than them for their first three years of rep hockey and then played their first two years of AAA hockey with the Southern Tier Admirals with teammates that were one year older than them.

Playing up has been a big benefit to the LeBlancs.

“They were obviously bigger, more mature and faster too so it gets you prepared for the next level of hockey,” said the Grade 10 student at Lakeshore Catholic. “When we went back down, we were able to notice a difference. We were physically prepared to play against bigger, faster and stronger kids.”

The brothers were looking forward to play in the OHL Cup but it was canceled because of the COVID-10 pandemic. Like everyone else, they are dealing with the reality of social distancing.

“We’ve been doing pretty good but it’s boring because there isn’t much to do,” Jacob said. “We are working out and staying in shape for next season.”

They have been following a couple of take-home training programs.

The brothers will obviously be watching the draft together and they will share plenty of emotions.

“There’s a little bit of nerves, but there’s just excitement because we can’t wait to get our names called,” Jacob said.

For more on the draft see links below:

Wyatt Gibson profile at https://www.bpsportsniagara.com/better-late-than-never/

Keaton Zavitz profile at https://www.bpsportsniagara.com/captain-zavitz-hopes-for-ohl-shot/

Ethan Whitcomb profile at https://www.bpsportsniagara.com/clutch-player-eyes-ohl-draft/

Connor Thomson-Dick profile at https://www.bpsportsniagara.com/commitment-to-hockey-pays-off/

Derek Smythe profile at https://www.bpsportsniagara.com/smythe-content-to-stay-home/

Trent Swick profile at https://www.bpsportsniagara.com/hard-work-pays-off-for-swick/

Andrew LeBlanc profile at https://www.bpsportsniagara.com/the-centre-of-attention/