Windsor's Sebastien Gervais set to play 300th OHL game

Sebastien Gervais is about to reach a milestone few junior hockey players ever achieve.

The Windsor AAA Zone graduate is set to play his 300th career game in the Ontario Hockey League this week, now wearing the colours of the North Bay Battalion after a recent trade from the Saginaw Spirit.

Source: OHL

“It’s super cool,” Gervais told Powerplay Sports. “From the start of my career, I didn’t even know if I was going to play a full season. I didn’t know if I was going to make the team. To make a full five years and, luckily, stay healthy — it’s definitely special.”

His path to the OHL was anything but guaranteed. Gervais was originally trying to play Junior B hockey but was cut by both the Leamington Flyers and Chatham Maroons. A break through hockey connections landed him a tryout with Saginaw after another player missed camp — and he made the most of it.

“Joey Willis didn’t go to camp — he ended up making the team a year later,” Gervais explained. “I always tell him, ‘Thank God you didn’t come, or I don’t know how my OHL career would have gone.’”

He credits the pandemic-shortened season for helping him find his footing in the league.

“I remember one game the coach brought me in and said, ‘You’ve got to be better,’” Gervais said. “With injuries and COVID shots, some guys missed time, so I got my chance in the lineup, built my confidence in the second half of the year, and kind of just took off.”

Now in North Bay, Gervais is preparing to hit the 300-game mark when the Battalion host the Sudbury Wolves Thursday night — a milestone born from perseverance, patience, and seizing opportunity.