From the Stands: It’s a special time to be an OHL fan
By Paul Osborne, Guelph Tribune
There are many wonderful things about having an Ontario Hockey League team in your city. From a practical standpoint it brings revenue to the city, and in the case of Guelph, gives a nice boost to some businesses in the downtown. It puts your city on the map across the province and Canada. It makes your main rink the largest community gathering place for people from all backgrounds.
Fans get to see young boys grow into men before their very eyes and then get to watch them with pride as some go on to excel in college or university, while others hang their star in the National Hockey League. All of them go on to be married and raise their families and fans get the joy of saying “I remember when they played in Guelph…”.
But these last three years Storm fans have had another once in a generation bonus as future superstar Connor McDavid came to town on a regular basis. He usually played at least two regular season games at the Sleeman Centre every year, then last year fans got to see him play three more games in the playoffs. He also played three times a season in Kitchener and I know several fans (including me) that drove over just to see him play. The last player of this calibre that played in the OHL was Wayne Gretzky in 1977-78 and that was for only one season.
If a team in the Eastern Conference of the OHL had drafted McDavid, fans in Guelph would have barely seen him. But as luck would have it he was selected by the Erie Otters, a team in the Storm’s division, giving locals the chance to watch this young kid blossom into a star.
It is easy to forget that McDavid started this season as a 17-year-old. Yes it was his third season in the league, but still he played like a veteran and had that “something-something” that made you sit up and pay attention every time he touched the puck. His speed, his creativity with the puck, his ability to make things happen, left most fans shaking their heads in amazement. He is a very special player.
I know my friends from other cities always ask me if “the kid is as good as everyone says he is” and the answer is a resounding “yes!”. The sad thing for me is that he will now play in Edmonton where fans in the east will only get to see him sporadically at best. But fans in Guelph can’t complain because they have seen him develop into a star. And he had a head on his shoulders. If you wanted an autograph he always came out from the dressing room after games to stand in the hallway and sign knowing kids and adults alike wanted a piece of him.
It could be decades before we see this type of player in Guelph again and it struck me as I’ve watched his magic during his current playoff run how lucky we have been in the Royal City to have watched him play in our own backyard.
From the Land of Oz….Hockey Canada hosted the Gold Cup last weekend. It is their first step in identifying young talent who may some day represent Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Guelph had several players invited. 3rd round pick Nate Schnarr lead the future Stormers with three goals and two assists playing for Team Alliance. Second rounder Liam Stevens (1G, 3A) and 3rd rounder Nick Deakin-Poot (2G) played well for OMHA White; 5th rounder Quinn Hanna (1A) and goaltender Anthony Popovich (2.19 GAA) played for OMHA Navy. Storm first round pick Isaac Ratcliffe came down with the flu and only got into one game before having to head home.
