October Recap
The opening month saw the Colts achieve success on the ice and hit substantial milestones for the team and its players. The commencement of the 2024-25 season marked 30 years of Barrie Colts hockey, and to celebrate this milestone, the Colts introduced a brand new centre ice logo design for the season and debuted a 30th-anniversary jersey during the home opener against North Bay.
The month saw two prominent players; Beau Akey and Beau Jelsma, return to the lineup from injury. Akey, a second round pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 2023 missed the majority of the 2023-24 season recovering from double shoulder surgery but made his long-awaited return on October 5th. Jelsma, the overage Captain suffered an upper-body participating at the Pittsburgh Penguins development camp but returned on October 20th. Perhaps the biggest news of the month came on October 10th when Barrie traded for 20-year-old centerman Dalyn Wakely of the North Bay Battalion. In Wakely, the Colts acquired another offensive threat who racked up 104 points (39 goals, 65 assists) in 66 regular season games last season. The Port Hope native didn’t hesitate to make his mark contributing three goals and two assists in his first two outings as a Colt.
Barrie fared well in the month of October and boasted a strong record of 8-4-0-0 early on in the season. Currently, the team sits 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 2nd in what is becoming a very competitive central division. Brad Gardiner leads the Colts in goals (eight) and points (13) through 12 contests. In that same span, Bode Stewart leads the team in assists with 10, and is set to soar past his total of 13 last season. Third-year goaltender Sam Hillebrandt has led the Colts between the pipes thus far, starting in 9 games with a GAA of 2.57 and a .914 SAV%. It’s also worth noting that the recently acquired Dalyn Wakely has produced nine points in seven games in a Colts uniform, and has been a large factor in their hot start to the 24’-25’ season.
Two Colts reached career milestones on the same goal in a win on October 12th against the Steelheads, Dalyn Wakely notched his 100th OHL assist on a Brad Gardiner goal that ended up being Gardiner’s 100th OHL point! The very next game presented this year’s Barrie Colts with an opportunity to reach a monumental milestone for the franchise. The win against Brampton meant the team would be just one win away from hitting the 1000th win in franchise history when they hosted Owen Sound on the 17th. Barrie would go on to win in a shootout to seal the 1000th win.
The Colts will look to keep rolling having won seven of their last nine contests. The team is slated to play 13 games in November, kicking off with a trip to Niagara to battle with the IceDogs on the first of the month.
