by Tommy Young
Nepean, ON – The Nepean Raiders are proud to announce that Mark Minion, Maxime Piquette, and Joshua Furlotte will be joining Brad Smyth behind the Raiders bench for the upcoming 2024-25 season.
Associate Coach Mark Minion brings 34 years of coaching experience to the Nepean Raiders. A former Raider himself in the 1992-93 season, he has experience coaching at all minor hockey levels in Eastern Ontario, including the GTHL, the OJHL, and most recently, the HEO U18 level. Winning a championship with the Kemptville 73’s U18 AAA program in 2022-23, and working with a number of Raiders prospects this past season with Ottawa Myers Auto U18 AAA, Mark has seen 11 of his players drafted to the OHL and a further 13 move on to the CCHL. Mark’s firm but fair approach comes with high expectations of his players to be disciplined, accountable and continually compete for the team’s success. Mark brings his passion for player development and building confidence in each player to the Raiders.
Assistant Coach Maxime Piquette brings 5 years of junior hockey experience splitting time at the Jr. A and Jr. B level. Following his playing career, Maxime has been working as a player development coach at SHIFT Performance, helping improve athletes both on and off the ice. He spent last season as a Assistant Coach with the Eastern Ontario Wild U16AAA. “I’m thrilled to join the Raiders experienced coaching staff of Brad Smyth. His knowledge and experience will help bring this team to success, while also helping me develop as a coach. I look forward to contribute in building a winning culture throughout the organization.”
Assistant Coach Joshua Furlotte has spent the past two seasons working as a video coach for the Rockland Nationals. He also served as an assistant coach for the AAA Wild, most recently, the U18 age group. On top of that, he’s coached two seasons with the Alexandria Glens as an assistant. He’s very detail oriented, passionate about player development, and fosters a positive team culture.
We are very excited to have these three fantastic coaches join the Black and Red for the upcoming season.
As well, the Raiders would also like to announce that Nathan Hisko has been named as Assistant General Manager. A native of the Ottawa Valley, he joins the Raiders with an immense background in several facets of hockey and education.
Nathan has spent several decades in the world of hockey and brings a wide variety of perspective and analysis to the Raiders program. Following his playing career and time as a junior referee, Nathan got into the world of scouting and began working for Neutral Zone, an independent scouting service based out of Vermont, where he honed his craft. In 2020, he was hired as a scout with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL, becoming a part of their franchise-record-setting playoff run in 2023 that culminated in a conference final loss. He has recently been given an expanded role within the Sting organization for the ‘24-’25 season, as well as joining the Raiders.
“I am thrilled to join the Nepean Raiders hockey club as the Assistant General Manager. I want to thank the new ownership group and Lino for the opportunity to be part of the Raiders family as we strive to build and develop a winning program that exudes a combination of skill, compete and character, both on and off the ice.”
Welcome to Nepean, Mark, Max, Josh, and Nathan!
