Bennington Joins Val-d'Or Foreurs QMJHL

Three year GMHL veteran and reigning Captain of the Shelburne Red Wings Owen Bennington has joined the Val-dO'r Foreurs in the QMJHL. Bennington joined the Red Wings three seasons ago and has been a star player in Shelburne since.

Bennington came to the GMHL from the Grey Bruce Highlanders AAA organization as a highly touted 15-year-old defenseman.  He was selected by Shelburne in the 6th round, #77 Overall during the 2010 GMHL Entry Draft. Owen turned heads immediately in the organization -- making the club from straight from main camp.

As a rookie, Owen earned a regular shift playing in all 42 games for the Red Wings on the blue-line. To begin his sophomore junior season, Bennington was converted into a Forward.

Once making the move up front, Owen had a break-out season scoring just under a point a game. He notched 32 (12-20-32) points in 37 games.

Last year, Owen returned for a third development year with the Red Wings organization where he earned the captaincy. He scored 23 points (9-14-23) in 35 games last season -- attracting interest from several higher levels of the game.

Come season end, Owen was a highly sought-after commodity from many Major Junior and NCAA clubs.

Also playing in Val-dO'r next season is Lukas Sladkovsky who played last season with the Bracebridge Phantoms. Lukas was picked up in the 2nd round of the CHL import draft earlier this off-season by the Foreurs.

Val-dO'r has an impressive history of developing top-end hockey talents. The likes of Roberto Luongo, Kris Letang and Brad Marchand have worn the Foreurs crest. Needless to say, there could not be a better hockey club to be taking notice and giving opportunities to the GMHL's elite talents.

The Red Wings and GMHL as a whole are very pleased to see Owen move to the Major Junior level. Bennington is a committed athlete who has worked as hard as anyone to get to where he is today. Best of luck next season!

Sean Werth, GMHL Staff