Bradley Horner’s love of hockey prevails ahead of his OHL debut
For the past two seasons, Bradley Horner has been making the long drive from Ottawa to Hawkesbury – about an hour each way – nearly every day. Continuing his hockey dream took a tremendous amount of dedication and time, and for many, it wouldn’t have been worth it, but Horner did it for one reason: his “love of the game.”
Drafted in the seventh round of the 2021 OHL Priority Selection, Horner had twice come to training camp, only to be told he didn’t make the team. The news was hard to swallow, but it left him with two choices; he could double down and go to work, or give up.
Giving up never crossed the 17-year-old defenceman’s mind, and he let the disappointment serve as motivation, getting to work to put together the best season possible with the Hawkesbury Hawks of the Central Canada Hockey League.
“That’s the whole reason I worked so hard in the summer, I had a chip on my shoulder,” Horner admitted. “I wanted to come out and show them what I can do.”
This season, Horner has done everything in his power to earn a promotion to the OHL, dedicating his entire offseason and every moment on the ice to being the best player he could possibly be.
His first 16 games of the season with the Hawks yielded positive results individually, scoring two goals and adding 11 assists, but in the middle of November, adversity struck. Horner suffered an injury that has kept him off the ice until recently, missing over a month of action.
Still, the start of the season was productive, Horner says, and allowed him to hone in on some of the smaller elements of his game.
“I focused on the little things in my game; the stops and stats, moving my feet, reading the play a little bit better, and being a little more poised,” he shared.
Although frustrated with missing a considerable amount of time, the injury didn’t hamper Horner’s progression, as his OHL dreams are finally set to come true. An Ottawa native, Horner is set to make his OHL debut on Friday night, when the Barber Poles take on Niagara IceDogs.
“It’s pretty sweet,” Horner said. “It feels like I’m one step closer to [my dream].”
So far, Horner’s only taste of the OHL has been what he has seen while watching games, and what he has experienced at practice. Those practices have served as key training grounds for Horner as he prepares for his OHL debut, and he says that under Head Coach Dave Cameron, practices are “a lot more intense” compared to what he is used to.
At practice, Horner has fit in almost immediately, in large part thanks to relationships he has formed with other Ottawa natives, with Chris Barlas serving an important role. The two grew up playing against one another; Horner with the Eastern Ontario Wild, and Barlas with the Ottawa Jr. 67’s.
“It’s surprisingly really good,” Horner said of his relationship with Barlas, with a laugh. “I wouldn’t say we were enemies, but we definitely didn’t like each other for a little bit. It feels like we have a little bit of chemistry on the ice, it makes connecting the dots a little easier.”
Horner says that his parents will be in the crowd when he hits the ice at the Arena at TD Place for his first home game, but he’s feeling the pressure
“It’s exciting, but I’m a little nervous,” Horner admitted. “Going from junior ‘A’ to my first game in the OHL after being injured for a month is going to be difficult, but I’ll stick to the basics; get pucks out, and hit everything.”
Horner becomes the fifth 67’s player to make his OHL debut this season, and the fourth Ottawa-born player currently on the roster.
