Taylor Pyatt

Prior to joining the Sudbury Wolves as a first round OHL Priority Selection in 1997, Taylor Pyatt led the Thunder Bay Kings to the 1997 Ontario Bantam Championship.

Pyatt, a first round pick of the New York Islanders in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, was the top scorer and most valuable player of the tournament. He led the Kings to a 5-0 win over the Ottawa Titans in the gold medal game.

Thunder Bay Kings coach Darryl Blazino, who was an assistant coach with the team in 1997, says that you could see the type of player that Pyatt would become.

“You could see the potential he had then,” he stated. “He was so smooth for a big guy and had good hands around the net.”

Blazino says that one of things that set Pyatt apart as a player was his humble nature despite being one of the stars of the team.

Pyatt led a roster of future OHL’ers including Wolves teammate Jason Jaspers, who was named the most sportsmanlike player of the tournament.

Goaltender Alex Auld (North Bay Centennials), defencemen Mike Jacobsen (Belleville Bulls), Barry Graham (Kitchener Rangers) and Derek Fox (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) as well as forwards Jamie Young (Kingston Frontenacs), and Michael Wehrstedt (Kitchener Rangers) were also members of the provincial champions from Thunder Bay.

“We were blessed with a ton of talent,” Blazino continued. “But we also had a lot of role players that helped us win.”