Next stop for county hockey phenom
By Ben Orcutt, Powhatan Today
How ya gonna keep ’em down in Powhatan once they’ve been drafted by the Ontario Hockey League?
When it comes to Kyle Rhodes, a 15-year-old freshman at Powhatan High School, you won’t.
Kyle got drafted by the Guelph Storm as the 112th pick in this year’s OHL Priority Selection draft on April 6.
“My family and I were at the beach watching the draft live on the Ontario Hockey League website,” Kyle said during a recent interview. “I saw on their website that Guelph Storm had drafted me, then the general manager called me shortly after.”
Some of the National Hockey League’s finest players have come through the draft, Kyle said, including Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Kane, Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall.
“It is a huge honor to get drafted considering out of 299 picks only 59 were Americans,” Kyle said.
Kyle and his father, Brian Rhodes, were scheduled to visit Guelph this past weekend.
“I am very excited to meet the coaches and staff, check out their facility and just see the city,” Kyle said.
Kyle said he has traveled to Ontario before to play in tournaments, the last trip occurring in March when he went up to play in a showcase event called the OHL Cup.
The next step in the process, Kyle said, is to attend the Storm’s training camp in August when prospects try out for the team. If he makes the team this year or next year, he’ll attend high school in Guelph, he said.
