In Quebec, hockey is like a religion, and very few things in life are bigger than the Montreal Canadiens.
The 24-time Stanley Cup winners are central to civic pride, not just in Montreal but throughout the province. Growing up in Trois-Rivieres, where the Saint-Maurice meets the Saint Lawrence halfway between Montreal and Quebec City, Jeremy Loranger was no stranger to the pull of the Bleu, blanc et rouge.
“It’s a family thing,” Loranger said. “In my hometown, it’s pretty much hockey.”
Then, the 2025 seventh-round draft pick of the Blue Jackets paused.
“It’s great, but I’m not a Montreal fan anymore.”
The colors are similar but the team is different, as Loranger is now all-in on the Blue Jackets. The funny part is that until the undersized but spirited forward's name popped up on the screen when was chosen on June 28, he had zero idea he’d be Columbus bound.
The 2025 BCHL MVP put up eye-popping numbers this past season with Sherwood Park, but he had no contact with the Blue Jackets until they traded up and drafted him with the 198th overall selection.
“I was on my couch not paying attention a lot because I knew the Blue Jackets didn’t talk to me once, so I was just surprised that they drafted me,” he said. “I was super happy. My family and I were so proud. I know my parents were proud of me, and I’m really grateful for what they have done for me so far. I give a lot of credit to them.”
It seems that Loranger was born to be a hockey player, in part because of the hockey-mad culture in his hometown and in part because his family did what they could to introduce Jeremy and his brother Felix to the sport. Their father still plays and coaches at age 52, and he built a rink the family’s backyard, putting Jeremy on skates at “age 2 of 3,” as he remembers it.
The skill and tenacity that have come to mark Loranger’s game were built on that rink, and Loranger has always been able to put the puck in the net. The 5-9, 161-pound wing played in the famed Quebec International Pee-Wee Tournament twice, then was a high-scoring forward for his AAA program in Trois-Rivieres.
He played two games for Dubuque in the USHL in 2023-24, but at age 17, he moved all the way across Canada last year to play for Sherwood Park in the BCHL. There, he was dominant in his first year in the league, earning not just MVP but rookie of the year honors as he posted 40 goals and 105 points in just 54 games.
Loranger even got better as the year went on, posting 16 multipoint games in his last 19 contests (an 18-27-45 line) and then adding eight goals and 14 points in eight playoff games.
The last players to top 100 points in a BCHL season were Bradly and Josh Nadeau, who did so in 2022-23; Bradly was a first-round pick of Carolina who has already debuted in the NHL, while Josh is skating at the University of Maine. The previous player before that was CBJ forward Kent Johnson, who topped the century mark in 2019-20.
“I didn’t know about the league at first,” he said. “I received a call from my agent just talking about the fact that as a small player – I'm not big – that it was an offensive league, so he just told me that would be great for me as a development year.
“I’m really proud of my season. I had confidence with the coach, and he liked me as a player. He said, ‘I’ve seen some guys like you, but you have a great set of skills. I can bring you to the top of the league.’ I said, ‘Let’s go.’ I’m a big work guy. I didn’t expect 100 points, but I knew I’m a great hockey player so I knew I was capable of it.”
While Loranger will have to overcome his lack of size to make it at the pro level, he fits the profile of someone who can do so, CBJ assistant director of amateur scouting Trevor Timmins said.
“He’s a skilled forward that has grit,” Timmins said. “He has the grit package. He goes into the hard areas. There’s upside there. He has time to develop. He’s got what undersized players need to survive at the pro level – that's the grit package and the tenacity and the courage and the skating ability to get in and play in the hard areas.”
Loranger agreed what that assessment, noting that he uses his lack of size as a motivational tool.
“I’m not going to be denied,” he said. “I’m a small player and I know I’m going to work harder than everyone else. That’s the mind-set. That’s what I need to do. In a battle with a 6-6 (defenseman), you need to be stronger and quicker than those guys to beat them. I like receiving hits and just going in the crease and receiving cross checks. And giving one, too.”
Loranger showed off his skills last week at the team’s prospects development camp presented by Bread Financial, including a spin move in the Stinger Cup game that wowed the crowd and led to a scoring chance for his team. He’ll head now to Nebraska-Omaha, with a chance to put up big numbers in college hockey against some of the best programs in the country.
Down the road, though, he hopes to find himself back in Columbus now that he's part of the CBJ organization.
“It’s a great city,” he said. “I’m used to Quebec, so it’s different a little bit. But it’s been pretty fun so far, a great experience.”
