It was still freezing outside, but you could almost feel winter and the pandemic releasing its icy grip at Sadlon Arena, Thursday night.
Skating off with a 4-3 win over the Kingston Frontenacs, the Barrie Colts and the community are bouncing back from a two-year malaise. Everyone is happy to be playing and watching hockey again.
With the provincial government recently lifting proof-of-vaccine requirements and capacity limits, things are starting to feel normal.
It has been a long time — three years since a season was played to completion and one more since the Colts last appeared in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
On Thursday, the barn was a little more than half full and those who choose to stay away missed a dandy as the Colts played one of their best games so far this season.
Much more needs to happen this spring, but the Colts could be an interesting case in perseverance, of the pandemic variety and more conventional strife that hockey teams go through in typical times.
In fact, head coach/GM Marty Williamson’s team is doing the junior hockey equivalent of pushing water up hill, trading away a first-round NHL draft pick and seemingly becoming a better team in the process. That almost never happens in the OHL.
We’re referring to Oskar Olausson. Despite a strong start, the Swede was listing a bit by the time December rolled around and the Colts dealt him to Oshawa for German Kevin Niedenz, who took Olausson’s vacated import spot.
An earlier deal to get goaltender Mack Guzda from Owen Sound gave the Colts the type of goaltending they lacked when the league returned after a cancelled season. The team has since been rewarded in the standings, and Guzda with an NHL contract from the Florida Panthers.
Though he has since been suspended and cooled off a bit upon his return, forward Declan McDonnell has also been a welcome fit. The diminutive forward came here from Kitchener around the same time Olausson left. It’s an imperfect comparison, but it’s rare that a seventh-round (217 th overall) draft choice takes the place of a first-rounder (28th overall) and helps put his new club in a better spot.
The Colts' in-house players deserve credit, too.
Brandt Clarke has been outstanding. While it’s probably not a good thing that a defenceman is leading the team in scoring, Clarke’s 52 points (10G, 42A) show he probably deserved a better fate than not being invited to Canada’s world junior selection camp in December.
Guzda, for the most part, has shown an ability to mitigate some of the Colts' defensive missteps. There were some tense moments in the waning moments of Thursday’s game trying to close out the win, but Guzda was the difference.
NHL draft prospects Hunter Haight and Beau Jelsma, who often play together, are flourishing in expanded roles. Haight has been tremendous recently and is headed to the Top Prospects Game later this month in Kitchener. Somewhat surprisingly, Jelsma was left off the original roster, but don’t be surprised if he’s added as an injury replacement.
Evan Vierling is back from injury and scored twice on Thursday and was the team’s best player. It’s expected that he will play with Ethan Cardwell when the latter returns from suspension next week.
Could the Colts create some noise down the stretch and in the playoffs? Stranger things have happened.
The variables brought on by the pandemic have made OHL standings feel like the contents of a smoothie blender: a tough-to-figure mess. Aside from the Hamilton Bulldogs, there is little to choose between the rest of the Eastern Conference teams.
The Colts should avoid the Bulldogs in the opening round and will be no easy beat for the other six potential opponents, which could very well be the Frontenacs.
A spring playoff series against a star-laden team that includes presumptive No. 1 overall pick Shane Wright is not the worst post-season scenario for Barrie hockey fans, starving as everyone is to see meaningful spring hockey for the first time in four years.
The Frontenacs eliminated the Colts four years ago. A missed post-season (affording them the opportunity to draft Clarke), a playoff cancellation and a scrubbed season have followed. It’s a long time coming and explains that, despite it being double-digits below freezing, it felt warm leaving the arena on Thursday night.
Whatever happens in the playoffs, when it will be warmer outside, next season could be when things heat up. Clarke should be back and get a chance to play for Canada at the world junior tournament.
Haight and Jelsma will be a year older and better, with an NHL training and/or development camp experience to help them develop.
Speaking of the NHL, Cardwell (San Jose Sharks), Vierling (New York Rangers) and McDonnell (Tampa Bay Lightning) are playing for contracts. If they get them, they will move on to the American Hockey League. If not, they will be prime overage material in Barrie to replace Nathan Allensen and Anthony Tabak, who are both having excellent seasons.
At the best of times, forecasting the fate of teenage hockey players and their teams is difficult enough. It’s especially so with the effects of a global pandemic still hanging thick in the air.
But after Thursday, you get a feeling the Colts and their fans are all breathing a little easier.
