Giancarlo Nadeau
Evan Paul has played for four teams in the PJHL, and he will finish his career in the league with his fourth team, the North Vancouver Wolf Pack. “I remember when I was 3 or 4 stopping pucks in my garage.” His passion for being a goaltender started at an early age. “I remember playing hockey 1 and rotating goalies and loving it when I was in the net,” Paul added.
Paul’s career began with the Chilliwack Jets in the 2021-22 season. He posted a respectable 12-3 record, earning his first victory against the Aldergrove Kodiaks on September 22, 2021. “It was a good year. We had a really strong group, and settling into the league with them was good,” he said. His first career shutout occurred in Surrey on December 16, 2021.
The product of Maple Ridge, BC, finished his rookie season with a 3.16 goals against average and a 0.907 save percentage. Paul played four additional games with Chilliwack the following season before being dealt to the White Rock Whalers.
Paul won 11 of 18 games with the Whalers during their 2022-23 campaign. He collected two shutouts, a 3.08 goals against average, and a 0.889 save percentage. He got his first taste of PJHL playoff action that season, winning one of two games for White Rock in a second-round series against the Delta Ice Hawks. “The playoff win in overtime, being down 3-0 in the series, was pretty electric,” he exclaimed.
Another season in the PJHL began with another trade for the 2003-born goaltender who spent the start of the current season in Port Coquitlam.
The expansion team’s struggles to succeed made it difficult for Paul to be at his best. He won just five of 20 games, with the Trailblazers posting a 5.04 goals against average and 0.881 save percentage. Paul found himself in a new home after this season’s trade deadline. “It was a nice change to be with a new team that’s going to the playoffs, and I’m excited to get started here,” Paul said.
His first game with the Wolf Pack was memorable, aiding his team to a 6-1 victory on January 14. The Wolf Pack pulled off a convincing victory in Grandview that night thanks to Paul’s 20-save performance. Getting the win in Grandview has been one of his favourite moments of the year. “We let in the first goal there, but the boys came out and got six straight goals for me,” he said.
Evan Paul’s career in the PJHL has indeed come full circle. The veteran goaltender has played 61 games and has won 30. A 3.80 goals against average and 0.890 save percentage are next to his name. His friends and family mean the world to him. “They never miss a game. They are always there, and it has been like that forever,” he said.
Paul admits that the PJHL has changed since he first strapped his pads for the Chilliwack Jets. “Back then, it was Junior B, and now it’s Junior A, so that’s one change. It’s also a lot more skilled now,” he added.
Paul plans to golf, hang out with friends and family, and travel once his PJHL career is complete. He wants to be remembered as a “team guy always wanting to do what’s best for the team.” As for the three other teams he played with, “I enjoyed playing with all of them. It was a pleasure, and I enjoyed playing every minute of it.” Paul will hopefully wrap up his time with a team he faced four times, holding the championship banner.
