Powassan Voodoos celebrate goalie with unique connection to team logo

Powassan Voodoos goalie Derek Champagne shares a unique bond with his team's name. Eric Taschner has the story.

Powassan Voodoos starting goalie Derrick Champagne always feels a rush of excitement when he straps on the pads.

Being a Voodoo means everything to him.

“I love the team here. I love the coaches,” Champagne said.

He said it’s extra special when he puts his jersey on and when he looks at the logo on his chest.

The soaring jet reminds him of his father, Rick Champagne, a nearly 40-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was an air traffic controller and later an aerospace controller.

While he was stationed in Comox, B.C., on Vancouver Island, he directed McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo jets while they were in the air.

“409 Squadron was one of five squadrons there,” Rick Champagne told CTV News from Greely, Ont.

“We had jets. We had search and rescue. We had fisheries, patrols and we had the Voodoos. They were by far the most exciting aircraft. They made a lot of noise and made a lot of smoke.”

Champagne even flew in a Voodoo a few times in the mid-1980s after completing a high-altitude indoctrination course.

So, years later, when the opportunity for his son came to play in Powassan, Rick thought that it was “perfect.”

“I got excited. The first thing I said to Derek is, ‘You know, I flew in one of those,’” Rick said, of the team’s logo.

“He thought it kind of correlated to the history here,” Derrick said.

It’s the first time since the team joined the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League in 2014 that it has had any kind of personal connection to its name and logo.

When the Voodoos formed, the previous owners wanted to tie the team to the region’s rich military history and keep the connection with the North Bay Battalion.

Thus, the Powassan Voodoos were born.

“It used to fly out of North Bay for training missions and there’s a beautiful plane propped up right at the top of the hill in front of the Jack Garland Airport,” said Voodoos general manager Chris Dawson.

The Voodoos are off to a flying start since the 2025-26 season took off. Champagne has helped pilot them to fourth in the standings and he recently picked up his first shutout of the season.

“He’s done a great job so far. He’s come up with some big wins for us early in the year,” Dawson added.

Champagne, meanwhile, is hoping to continue to fly high while wearing a jersey that gives him such pride.

“The coaches just make it so fun to be out here,” he said.

“To me personally, it’s just amazing.”