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The Future of the OHL is Now: OHL Futures Camp - OHL Overtime · The Armchair GM's Sports Network

0:01
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
0:27
Speaker 2: This is Jim Joker's voice of the Cakes to bron Next,
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Speaker 2: you're listening to OHL Overtime and in depth interview show
0:33
Speaker 2: highlighting the players, coaches and broadcasters from around the Ontario
0:37
Speaker 2: Hockey League to make the league so great, as well
0:40
Speaker 2: as in person coverage of events such as the OHL Playoffs,
0:43
Speaker 2: OHL Championship Series, OHL Combine and more exclusively on the
0:48
Speaker 2: Armchair GM Sports Network. Here's your program host, Brandon Computer.
0:59
Speaker 3: Welcome in don to the episode of OHL Overtime right
1:01
Speaker 3: here on the Armchair GM Sports Network. I thank it
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Speaker 3: everybody tuned in on your favorite on demand audio podcast platform.
1:07
Speaker 3: Make sure to give us a five star rating on
1:09
Speaker 3: whenever one you chose to listen to us on here
1:12
Speaker 3: from the OHL Futures Camp twenty twenty six at Ridley
1:15
Speaker 3: College in Saint Catharines in the Niagara Region. Live here
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Speaker 3: on site doing some interviews that will be posted later
1:21
Speaker 3: on the Armchair GM Sports Network YouTube page check out
1:25
Speaker 3: or stay tuned for that later in the week as well.
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Speaker 3: Brandon Kudo joined alongside Christian Simmons here to basically recap
1:31
Speaker 3: what we've seen on this Saturday afternoon Saturday morning. Been
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Speaker 3: a full day here of games going on with one
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Speaker 3: hundred and twenty of the top draft eligibles for the
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Speaker 3: upcoming twenty twenty six OHL Priority Selection that takes place
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Speaker 3: this June in Kingston and just over a month away. Christian,
1:48
Speaker 3: thanks for coming today, being back on the network once again.
1:51
Speaker 3: It's great to chat with you and look forward to
1:55
Speaker 3: you know what's to come here with some of the
1:56
Speaker 3: interviews you're able to do today.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, well, thanks for having me back. Brandon. It's been
2:00
Speaker 4: a while since.
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Speaker 5: I've had an appearance on the Armchair GM Sports Network,
2:03
Speaker 5: so I'm very happy to be here, Very happy to
2:06
Speaker 5: be here in Saint Catherine's. It's close, it's in our
2:09
Speaker 5: neck of the woods, so not exactly a long drive
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Speaker 5: to get here today, but yeah, really happy to be
2:14
Speaker 5: here and you know, checking out some of the best
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Speaker 5: in this twenty twenty six OHL Draft class.
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Speaker 4: It's been a fun start to the day.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been a lot of games, and there's six
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Speaker 3: games in total on this day that we're recording on
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Speaker 3: the Saturday, and there's three more games Sunday as well,
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Speaker 3: so you know, a jam pack day of basically what
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Speaker 3: is a six teams worth of roster teams.
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Speaker 5: That's right, six teams, six games today, so each team
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Speaker 5: plays twice and then it looks like Sunday, you got
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Speaker 5: each team playing once more. Again, so three games for
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Speaker 5: each team throughout the next forty eight hours.
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Speaker 3: We had yesterday off ice fitness testing and practices as
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Speaker 3: well getting prep for the games today. As we mentioned,
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Speaker 3: six rosters that are all named after former OHL alum greats,
3:02
Speaker 3: most recently Easton Cowen, Sam Dickinson, Matthew Schaeffer, Beckett Seneca,
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Speaker 3: Zane Perrek, and Michael Misa were all the teams named
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Speaker 3: after those six outstanding OHL graduates. There again, you know
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Speaker 3: six unique jerseys as well. You know, I wasn't really
3:20
Speaker 3: the biggest fan of a couple of them. I was
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Speaker 3: a fan of the whites.
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Speaker 5: Some jersey debates here in the lobby for sure. Yeah
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Speaker 5: we Shando likes the whites. Yeah, I liked the Reds.
3:29
Speaker 4: I like the Reds.
3:30
Speaker 5: I didn't even notice the yellows, to be honest, I
3:32
Speaker 5: forgot that was the first game of the day. We
3:34
Speaker 5: were here at eight am for game one. I don't
3:36
Speaker 5: think either of us were quite awake yet to see
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Speaker 5: the yellow jerseys, but yeah, no, the white for me,
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Speaker 5: the white and reds.
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Speaker 4: It's my favorite.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: So again, if you want to check out those interviews,
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Speaker 3: they'll be available later this week here on the armchare
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Speaker 3: GM Sports Network YouTube channel. Christian was able to catch
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Speaker 3: up with nine of the players here out of one
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Speaker 3: hundred and twenty that are draft eligible. Just looking ahead,
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Speaker 3: Chris what this event has been rebranded as used to
4:03
Speaker 3: be called the OHL Combine for you guys that are
4:05
Speaker 3: are following along or have followed along on the network
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Speaker 3: over the last couple of years, but it's been rebranded.
4:11
Speaker 3: It's been moved from Oshawatch Tribute Community Center here to
4:14
Speaker 3: Ridley College and Saint Catharine's a great facility here, home
4:17
Speaker 3: of the Ridley Tigers. Give them a shout out here,
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Speaker 3: but obviously great for a lot of teams, and we've
4:22
Speaker 3: seen almost every team represented here from all twenty OHL teams.
4:27
Speaker 3: We've seen the general managers, scouts, coaches, coaches staff as well.
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Speaker 3: There's been a lot of people here and maybe this
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Speaker 3: gets things ramped up for possible early trade talks for
4:37
Speaker 3: that we're when the June draft to trade window opens up.
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Speaker 3: But it's nice to be able to see everybody here
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Speaker 3: and get to talk to guys that you're so far
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Speaker 3: away from during the season where you can actually have
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Speaker 3: those in person chats.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, it's kind of like, you know, the Ohl media
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Speaker 5: all under one roof for the first time pretty much
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Speaker 5: all season, Right, you get everybody here and you know,
4:56
Speaker 5: not just the media like you mentioned, coaching staff, general managers,
4:59
Speaker 5: scouts all here, you know, checking out some of the
5:01
Speaker 5: best of the best, and you know, I'm happy to
5:03
Speaker 5: be here right there alongside them.
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Speaker 4: But it's a good point.
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Speaker 5: You know, there's probably a lot of interest being generated
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Speaker 5: in maybe some trades, so we'll have to keep an
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Speaker 5: eye on the transfer wire see if anything comes in
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Speaker 5: the next coming weeks or following this weekend, any teams
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Speaker 5: are going to move up. But that's a good point,
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Speaker 5: I would say, you know, with the amount of you know,
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Speaker 5: high quality skill here, being in the top ten of
5:27
Speaker 5: his draft is probably on the mind of just about
5:30
Speaker 5: every general manager that was here to watch it.
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Speaker 3: But yeah, and before we get going here, Christian just
5:36
Speaker 3: at a disclosure here for the listeners. Cato Rourke is here.
5:40
Speaker 3: We know we're not going to get into the situation.
5:43
Speaker 3: We know that Hockey Canada came down with their decision
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Speaker 3: to not allow or grant that young man exceptional status
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Speaker 3: to come into the OHL as a fifteen year old defenseman.
5:54
Speaker 3: Weren't able to catch up with him today. But in generality,
5:57
Speaker 3: obviously he's still here and he wants to be an
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Speaker 3: OHL player at some point down the road, you know,
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Speaker 3: maybe just has to wait another year or so. But
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Speaker 3: for him, and I guess the mindset that he has
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Speaker 3: coming into a into an event like this, I guess
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Speaker 3: what would be you know, your approach if you were
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Speaker 3: cater Urk being able to come into this opportunity and
6:13
Speaker 3: trying to make the most out of you know, not
6:15
Speaker 3: the best news that you got earlier in the week.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, you know what, I think it's an opportunity for
6:19
Speaker 5: the young man to still do what he would have
6:22
Speaker 5: done if he was granted exceptional status here today, which
6:25
Speaker 5: is showcase his skill set in front of the brass
6:29
Speaker 5: in the OHL. And I think he's done that already
6:32
Speaker 5: in the first two games that he's played. I watched
6:34
Speaker 5: the way that he competed this morning. I don't think
6:37
Speaker 5: it's taken anything away from you know, his dreams. You know,
6:41
Speaker 5: I was reading an article earlier today where the first
6:45
Speaker 5: house that he moved into here in Toronto back when
6:47
Speaker 5: he was eleven years old. He actually wrote twenty twenty
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Speaker 5: six exceptional status on his wall over top of his doorway.
6:54
Speaker 5: So he's been thinking about it for a long time.
6:56
Speaker 5: But you know what else he's been thinking about is
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Speaker 5: playing in the National Hockey League. And this is a
7:01
Speaker 5: minor speed bump in what will be a very long
7:04
Speaker 5: and successful career for the young man. He's a very
7:07
Speaker 5: talented individual, seems to have a great head on his shoulders,
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Speaker 5: very mature. He showcased some of his skill sets here
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Speaker 5: this morning, and if I were him, you know, and
7:16
Speaker 5: he's obviously taking this position as well, is just to
7:19
Speaker 5: be a sponge. You know, take advantage of this weekend.
7:21
Speaker 5: You know, you get an opportunity that the rest of
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Speaker 5: your draft class isn't gonna have. You know, none of
7:27
Speaker 5: them get to be here, none of them get to
7:28
Speaker 5: see the level of compete, none of them can compare
7:31
Speaker 5: themselves with the previous draft class and the guys that
7:34
Speaker 5: are going to go in that top ten, that top fifteen,
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Speaker 5: and you know, really stack yourself up to that talent, Like,
7:39
Speaker 5: what's it going to take if I want to be
7:41
Speaker 5: a top five pick next year in the OHL, what
7:44
Speaker 5: does that look like here on this sheet of ice
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Speaker 5: at Ridley College.
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Speaker 4: So he's getting a really good taste of the.
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Speaker 5: Kind of you know atmosphere there's going to be here
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Speaker 5: next year. So I think it's going to be great
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Speaker 5: for the young man. I think he's gonna show up
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Speaker 5: next year knowing exactly what to expect. He's been there before,
8:01
Speaker 5: he's done it before. He's that much more comfortable, and
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Speaker 5: I think he'll really show him in for that number
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Speaker 5: one overall pick next season.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, the Texas born player playing for the Toronto Junior
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Speaker 3: Canadian to expect another big season out of him as
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Speaker 3: he moves forward here as well. Again, a lot of
8:17
Speaker 3: players from multiple teams over here. You know, you have
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Speaker 3: some familiarity, some teammates that you can bounce ideas off of.
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Speaker 3: But again, we haven't heard the last of Kato Wurike,
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Speaker 3: that's for sure. But moving forward, I guess Christian too.
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Speaker 4: You know.
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Speaker 3: Some of the guys that aren't here today that we
8:34
Speaker 3: should mention is Brody Schulz was injured from the Toronto
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Speaker 3: Meyers Auto team, as well as a few notables in
8:41
Speaker 3: Gavin Martin from the Branford ninety nine ers the Alliance,
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Speaker 3: and Ryker Kessler of the Detroit Little Caesars unable to
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Speaker 3: attend as well. So I guess one hundred and seventeen
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Speaker 3: of the best draft elision. Yes, we don't want to
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Speaker 3: mention that those players were unfortunately unable to participate, but
9:01
Speaker 3: you know, we were able to watch three games today, Christian.
9:04
Speaker 3: We're not gonna break down every single game, you know,
9:08
Speaker 3: it's game stats, scoring, some er everything like that, but
9:11
Speaker 3: we are gonna mention some of the players that not
9:14
Speaker 3: just ones that we spoke to for the interviews, but
9:17
Speaker 3: also some players that stood out. So we had game
9:20
Speaker 3: one Team Schaefer versus Team Misa. Game two was Team
9:23
Speaker 3: Cowen versus deam Perrek, and then Game three Team Dickinson
9:25
Speaker 3: verus Team Seneca. The thing that I took from I guess,
9:29
Speaker 3: in the generality of the three games, the second game
9:31
Speaker 3: was the most physical, which was Team Perec against Team Cowen.
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Speaker 3: There were some big boys out there. We'll get to
9:37
Speaker 3: one of them that we're obviously gonna be of note,
9:40
Speaker 3: and he's gonna be somebody that stands out not just
9:42
Speaker 3: because of his great play, but because of how big
9:45
Speaker 3: of Amani is out there. But that Cowen and Parrect
9:47
Speaker 3: game was definitely the most physical out of three that
9:50
Speaker 3: I've seen, and you can tell that these guys are
9:52
Speaker 3: really going for it out there.
9:53
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know what, I think, that's something that I
9:55
Speaker 5: was really surprised by when I showed up this morning.
9:58
Speaker 5: You know, for some reason, I had the guy to
10:00
Speaker 5: believe that this was going to be a skills competition.
10:02
Speaker 5: You know, it's gonna be like watching an All Star game.
10:04
Speaker 5: Everybody's gonna be out there having fun and showcasing their
10:07
Speaker 5: skill sets, not looking to get hurt, right, not looking
10:10
Speaker 5: to damage their draft stock in any way. These guys
10:13
Speaker 5: are competing like it is a very aggressive style of hockey, physical, passionate,
10:22
Speaker 5: and you know there's no love loss between these teams,
10:25
Speaker 5: you know, the physicality. We've seen a couple of fights
10:27
Speaker 5: today as well, and you know you really start to
10:30
Speaker 5: kind of get the idea that you know, these young men,
10:33
Speaker 5: these these kids, you know there's still kids are are
10:37
Speaker 5: you know, sacrificing themselves physically to hopefully have a chance
10:41
Speaker 5: to play in the OHL and be considered. You know,
10:44
Speaker 5: in that first or second round you know, you know,
10:46
Speaker 5: to go as a high OHL draft pick. But to
10:48
Speaker 5: your point, Brandon, yes, pleasantly surprised with the level of compete,
10:51
Speaker 5: pleasantly surprised with the level of physicality.
10:54
Speaker 4: It's been really entertaining to watch.
10:56
Speaker 5: I didn't think, you know, especially with these teams coming
10:59
Speaker 5: from you know, all different or these players coming from
11:01
Speaker 5: all different spots. You know, there's maybe not a whole
11:03
Speaker 5: lot of chemistry, maybe they don't know each other very well,
11:06
Speaker 5: but it's actually been quite the contrary. You know, a
11:09
Speaker 5: lot of these guys have either played against each other
11:11
Speaker 5: in the Ohl Cup or in the OHA, the GTHL.
11:15
Speaker 5: We got teams from the players from the US, We
11:18
Speaker 5: got prep teams here, so you know, right across the
11:20
Speaker 5: board the highest level of U sixteen, these players have
11:24
Speaker 5: clearly seen each other before and they're you know, they're
11:27
Speaker 5: really going to battle here this morning.
11:29
Speaker 4: Yeah.
11:29
Speaker 3: And I mean when you add in the the new
11:32
Speaker 3: eligibility with the NC double A players, that maybe these
11:35
Speaker 3: guys wouldn't have been able to come to the combine
11:37
Speaker 3: because they the OHL was not a pathway for them.
11:39
Speaker 3: At some point, you think about the possibilities of them
11:42
Speaker 3: being able to come over now maybe drafted higher in
11:45
Speaker 3: the OHL Draft, and they would have given you know
11:47
Speaker 3: that they're gonna be NC DOUBLEA commits, and teams really
11:50
Speaker 3: just didn't want to bank on them decommitting and coming
11:54
Speaker 3: to the OHL. Now they're able to do both, and
11:57
Speaker 3: maybe it's encouraged some more teams and more players to
12:00
Speaker 3: be able to want to be a part of the
12:01
Speaker 3: Ontario hockey legue at a younger age get drafted here
12:04
Speaker 3: at the sixteen year old.
12:05
Speaker 1: Side of things.
12:06
Speaker 3: And as you mentioned, like there's a familiarity, but there's
12:10
Speaker 3: also some teams that have never seen each other before
12:12
Speaker 3: unless they played in the Ohl Cup or something like that.
12:15
Speaker 3: So there's a lot of a lot of familiarity within
12:18
Speaker 3: the teams, but also a good mix of not knowing
12:21
Speaker 3: these guys so that they don't really they don't want
12:23
Speaker 3: to take it easy on their buddies anymore. They're going
12:25
Speaker 3: up against guys they've never seen before, and they want
12:27
Speaker 3: to showcase that they're out here to up their draft
12:30
Speaker 3: stock and make sure that their name is called as
12:33
Speaker 3: high as possible in June's entry draft or not just
12:36
Speaker 3: out here. As you mentioned, for a skater to have
12:38
Speaker 3: a little friendly pickup game against friends.
12:40
Speaker 4: Yeah.
12:41
Speaker 5: You know what else I realized that, you know, it
12:43
Speaker 5: really kind of helps you understand how talented these kids
12:46
Speaker 5: really are. You know, I remember, for example, you know,
12:49
Speaker 5: in my minor hockey career, when I was playing on
12:51
Speaker 5: a team that was fresh, you know, a bunch of
12:54
Speaker 5: new guys, you know, seven eight guys right after the tryouts,
12:56
Speaker 5: you know, your first couple of games in that season,
12:58
Speaker 5: they don't go very well. You know, you don't have
13:01
Speaker 5: you know, that chemistry, you don't know where people are.
13:04
Speaker 5: This is incredibly good hockey with rosters that have had
13:08
Speaker 5: nothing but yesterday to come together and prepare and really
13:12
Speaker 5: develop some of that chemistry. So it really goes to
13:14
Speaker 5: show the level of hockey iq, the level of skill,
13:18
Speaker 5: the level of.
13:19
Speaker 4: Just hockey sense.
13:21
Speaker 5: You know that these kids are displaying that they're already
13:24
Speaker 5: functioning as high quality hockey teams with a bunch of strangers.
13:29
Speaker 5: You know, maybe you know, strangers is you know, a
13:31
Speaker 5: bit of a strong word, because, like you mentioned, Brandon,
13:33
Speaker 5: they've probably seen each other, played with each other, they
13:36
Speaker 5: know of each other, but they've never played with each
13:39
Speaker 5: other on.
13:39
Speaker 4: The same team.
13:40
Speaker 5: And that was another thing that I really noticed today
13:42
Speaker 5: is the puck movement, the passing, the power play, the
13:46
Speaker 5: penalty kill, the how organized they are is really a treat,
13:51
Speaker 5: you know, considering you know, the lack of preparation. But
13:54
Speaker 5: I wanted to mention sixteen US players across all six
13:58
Speaker 5: teams here, I would it's probably safe bet that that
14:01
Speaker 5: is the first time we've ever had that many US
14:05
Speaker 5: born players here at an OHL combine or the Futures Weekend.
14:10
Speaker 4: Yeah.
14:10
Speaker 3: Absolutely, it's it's encouraged more more competition as well, and
14:14
Speaker 3: we've definitely seen that out on the ice today. There's
14:17
Speaker 3: no love loss between some of these teams and some
14:19
Speaker 3: of these players, you know, being able to mix it up,
14:22
Speaker 3: and we want to showcase some of those guys. So
14:25
Speaker 3: let's let's talk about some of the guys that are here.
14:27
Speaker 1: Christian.
14:27
Speaker 3: We did talk to nine players throughout the day already
14:32
Speaker 3: that again will be available on the arms here GM
14:34
Speaker 3: Sports Network YouTube channel. The entire list of nine interviews
14:37
Speaker 3: that Christian was able to conduct here today on site
14:40
Speaker 3: at the OHL Futures Camp. But again, who are some
14:43
Speaker 3: players to you that sort of stuck out and that
14:45
Speaker 3: fans should look for come this June's entry draft, who
14:48
Speaker 3: maybe aren't I haven't looked at the draft rankings yet
14:52
Speaker 3: for the upcoming you know, U sixteen draft class. It's
14:56
Speaker 3: a little bit tougher to look at or look into
14:58
Speaker 3: than maybe the NHL Draft, where there's a thousand different
15:00
Speaker 3: draft rankings and and some some players that people should
15:03
Speaker 3: at least have a name of when when this draft
15:06
Speaker 3: does come in June.
15:07
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know what, it's a great point because you know,
15:10
Speaker 5: when you're you're dealing with minor hockey players, it's very
15:12
Speaker 5: difficult to find stats or any information you know, on
15:15
Speaker 5: any of these players. But you know, we'll give you
15:17
Speaker 5: a kind of a brief idea if you did go
15:19
Speaker 5: and look at the Elite Prospects top ten. You know,
15:22
Speaker 5: those guys are playing like the top ten here. And
15:26
Speaker 5: you know, for me, a couple of guys, you know,
15:28
Speaker 5: obviously Kato Rourke jumps off the page, but his time
15:30
Speaker 5: will come. You know, Roman van Aker on Team Misa.
15:34
Speaker 5: You got Kyle Kyler Latter on Team Perek, Logan Pritam
15:38
Speaker 5: on Team Perek as well, Austin Attenhoff, Cash, Quaja Adriane
15:42
Speaker 5: Scroll flipping the page here, Lachlan Whalen on Team Cowen,
15:48
Speaker 5: and Arjin.
15:49
Speaker 4: Nanubai on Team Dickinson for Team White.
15:51
Speaker 5: So those were the nine guys that I had a
15:53
Speaker 5: chance to interview, you know, the guys that really stood
15:56
Speaker 5: out here today, and those are guys that have stood out,
15:59
Speaker 5: you know, in their respective leagues throughout the season. It's
16:04
Speaker 5: no surprise that they find themselves at the top of
16:07
Speaker 5: those lists.
16:08
Speaker 4: But there are notable mentions as well.
16:11
Speaker 5: I think there's a lot of guys that we didn't
16:12
Speaker 5: interview today that have also had very very strong, you know,
16:16
Speaker 5: opening games here on day number one.
16:18
Speaker 4: And I think it's also important to note.
16:21
Speaker 5: That everybody here at this camp is a very very
16:24
Speaker 5: talented hockey player. These are the best one hundred and
16:28
Speaker 5: twenty across Ontario, Canada, the United States in their age category.
16:34
Speaker 5: We're talking about a five percent percentile of you know,
16:39
Speaker 5: the ninety fifth percentile maybe the better way to put
16:42
Speaker 5: it of you know, this age group, and you know,
16:44
Speaker 5: these are all incredibly talented, you know, young men. But
16:47
Speaker 5: if we want to get into some of them in particular,
16:50
Speaker 5: I think the biggest one and maybe the best place
16:53
Speaker 5: to start would be Logan Pridham, the biggest guy out
16:56
Speaker 5: there on the ice, six foot seven two hundred and
16:59
Speaker 5: twenty pounds as a fifteen year old. It's truly incredible.
17:04
Speaker 5: You know, the physical stature of this young man, he's
17:07
Speaker 5: already a man pretty much.
17:09
Speaker 4: As a as a boy as a child.
17:12
Speaker 5: This guy is, he's huge and you know what else,
17:14
Speaker 5: he can put pucks in the back of the net.
17:17
Speaker 5: You take a look at some of his stats that
17:18
Speaker 5: you pulled up here. Sixty nine games, forty four goals,
17:22
Speaker 5: ninety six points on the season. Just absolutely lethal for
17:26
Speaker 5: that Central Canada College at Central Canada College, Upper Canada College.
17:32
Speaker 4: That's correct, and you.
17:33
Speaker 5: Know, really put that team on the map here at
17:35
Speaker 5: the Ohl Cup. You know, usually when you have, you know,
17:38
Speaker 5: your your top four or top five, top six teams
17:41
Speaker 5: at the Ohl Cup, they round out it's you know,
17:44
Speaker 5: usually Don Mills, it's the Toronto Junior Canadians. You got,
17:47
Speaker 5: you know, maybe Barry in there, you got you know, Quinty,
17:51
Speaker 5: you got the Sends and and you know Vaughn the Kings,
17:54
Speaker 5: the Toronto Red Wings. This is the first year that
17:56
Speaker 5: you know, that Upper Canada team is really made a
18:00
Speaker 5: name for themselves and he's been a huge part of that,
18:02
Speaker 5: you know, and we saw some of that skill set
18:05
Speaker 5: earlier this morning. Wasn't able to get on the score
18:07
Speaker 5: sheet in game one, but you saw the speed, you know,
18:10
Speaker 5: from a guy of that size. You very rarely find
18:13
Speaker 5: somebody that stands at six foot seven and can skate
18:16
Speaker 5: the way that he can't, can handle the puck the
18:19
Speaker 5: way that he can, just the way that he's able
18:21
Speaker 5: to keep up with the pace of the game at
18:22
Speaker 5: that size is really, you know, truly an asset. And
18:25
Speaker 5: you know, the OHL scouts currently agree he's up in
18:28
Speaker 5: that you know, upper echelon right now. You know, most
18:30
Speaker 5: recent rankings have him, i know, as a top three
18:33
Speaker 5: pick in this upcoming draft.
18:35
Speaker 3: And I will say point of order that these scouts
18:39
Speaker 3: asked for these players to be here. So the Ontario
18:42
Speaker 3: Hockey He went out and asked the scouts and the
18:44
Speaker 3: teams which players they'd like to see. And these are
18:46
Speaker 3: the players that were selected that these teams want to
18:49
Speaker 3: take an extra look at for the upcoming OHL Draft.
18:52
Speaker 3: So that's as you mentioned, kudos to these players. One
18:55
Speaker 3: hundred and twenty of them you mentioned, you know, in
18:57
Speaker 3: the top top five percent of players that are draft
19:00
Speaker 3: eligible in this draft class.
19:02
Speaker 5: Run exactly and you know, you take a look at
19:04
Speaker 5: you know this one hundred and twenty players right here.
19:06
Speaker 4: That's that's you know, four rounds.
19:09
Speaker 5: You know, this could be you know, the top four
19:11
Speaker 5: rounds of picks right here, you know. And I would
19:13
Speaker 5: say there's a good bet that almost everybody here is
19:16
Speaker 5: an OHL draft pick come next season, whether that be
19:19
Speaker 5: a fourth round, fifth round, sixth round, seventh round pick.
19:22
Speaker 5: You know, there's a good chance that every single one
19:24
Speaker 5: of these guys is getting drafted come next season. So
19:27
Speaker 5: all very very talented young players. But I did want
19:30
Speaker 5: to start there with Logan Pritam Yes on his team
19:34
Speaker 5: as well from Central Ontario was Kyler Lauder, another very
19:39
Speaker 5: impressive young man. Had a chance to sit down with
19:43
Speaker 5: him or stand up with him. I guess I should
19:45
Speaker 5: say earlier today, very talented young forward and you know
19:50
Speaker 5: oh maj Player of the year a you know, led
19:53
Speaker 5: the oh mah in points in his final year with
19:56
Speaker 5: the Central Ontario Wolves and just a an offensive threat.
20:01
Speaker 5: You know, another guy that you know, throughout the course
20:04
Speaker 5: of this season has always been active and dangerous offensively,
20:08
Speaker 5: and he showed it this morning. He had a great
20:10
Speaker 5: assist on one of the goals. And that those two
20:14
Speaker 5: guys together Logan Pridham and Kyler Lauder on Team Correct.
20:17
Speaker 5: Team Read had a pretty strong performance here in their
20:21
Speaker 5: first game. Flipping the page, you want to take a
20:24
Speaker 5: look at Team MISA in yellow. Roman van Acker lining
20:29
Speaker 5: up on that roster, of course, the younger brother of
20:33
Speaker 5: Brantford Bulldog's superstar Merrick van Acker, and of course a
20:37
Speaker 5: very highly touted NHL prospect as well as somebody that
20:41
Speaker 5: will probably end up playing in the National League at
20:44
Speaker 5: some point is brother.
20:45
Speaker 4: Yep, his little brother.
20:47
Speaker 5: Following in in his footsteps. Was a huge part of
20:50
Speaker 5: that Brantford team in the Alliance and comes from, you know,
20:54
Speaker 5: a family with you know, a strong name there. You know,
20:57
Speaker 5: he's he's got definitely some big us to fill and
21:01
Speaker 5: he says that, you know, he refers to his brother
21:04
Speaker 5: quite a bit in that interview that we had, so
21:06
Speaker 5: you know, be sure to catch the full thing. But
21:09
Speaker 5: Roman van Acker definitely a standout. You could see kind
21:12
Speaker 5: of the pace, you could see the hands and and
21:15
Speaker 5: the hockey smarts, you know, just the intelligence. I think,
21:18
Speaker 5: you know, that's not too hard to believe considering the
21:20
Speaker 5: you know, the company that he keeps back at home.
21:22
Speaker 5: So Roman van Acker from Team Mesa, Cato Rourke also
21:26
Speaker 5: on Team Lisa as well.
21:27
Speaker 4: And you know, this guy's.
21:29
Speaker 5: Been you know, very very uh you know documented I
21:33
Speaker 5: think we all know what a special talent he is,
21:35
Speaker 5: but you know, just to reinforce it once again, the
21:38
Speaker 5: puck movement, the speed. You know, as of what he's
21:41
Speaker 5: fourteen years old right now, as a fourteen year old,
21:44
Speaker 5: to be out here moving at the pace that he is,
21:46
Speaker 5: with the size that he has, you know, he does
21:49
Speaker 5: not look out of place of anything.
21:50
Speaker 4: He jumps right off the sheet of ice.
21:52
Speaker 5: You know, he's a very noticeable player out here and
21:55
Speaker 5: you know, would be easily considered as a top three
21:58
Speaker 5: pick in this upcoming draft.
22:00
Speaker 4: He's you know, got the.
22:02
Speaker 5: The smart's, got the size, got the speed, and just
22:06
Speaker 5: you know, when you watch an NHL player, you watch,
22:08
Speaker 5: you know, an elite hockey player, they just they got
22:11
Speaker 5: something about them. When you watch them skate, they just
22:14
Speaker 5: kind of float, you know, they float above the ice.
22:16
Speaker 4: And this kid's got it.
22:17
Speaker 5: You know, when you watch him around the ices, you
22:19
Speaker 5: see him floating, and you.
22:21
Speaker 4: Know there's not a whole lot of effort in everything
22:23
Speaker 4: that he does.
22:23
Speaker 5: It just looks effortless. It looks effortless, like he's not
22:26
Speaker 5: even breaking a sweat. So you know he's got that
22:28
Speaker 5: elite tag, you know, that franchise kind of number one
22:32
Speaker 5: defense tag for any team in the OHL.
22:35
Speaker 4: He's going to be a great young player there and.
22:37
Speaker 3: Going up against some big boys too, right, Like look
22:39
Speaker 3: at how many how many? How many the big side
22:42
Speaker 3: and you know oversize pree plus.
22:45
Speaker 5: Yeah, like there's probably you know, ten fifteen on the list.
22:49
Speaker 5: Brandon and I were standing ice level for the third game,
22:52
Speaker 5: and boy, you we could really tell that we are
22:55
Speaker 5: physically and vertically challenged in comparison to of these guys.
23:00
Speaker 5: But yeah, Kate, I just wanted to give him another show.
23:03
Speaker 5: Really really impressive team Schaefer Blue. Austin Ottenhoff from the
23:09
Speaker 5: Quinty Red Devils. Again, just another very talented young player
23:14
Speaker 5: alongside Lachlan Whalen. Those two both coming out of the
23:17
Speaker 5: Quinty Red Devils are representing that class very very well.
23:22
Speaker 5: And again had a chance to sit down with Ottenhoff.
23:26
Speaker 5: You know, he switched over to the Quinty Red Devils
23:28
Speaker 5: this season from the Kingston Gales and that really helped
23:31
Speaker 5: him with his development. He had a career season here
23:34
Speaker 5: in U sixteen and really put himself at the top
23:36
Speaker 5: of that draft class again, another guy that's you know,
23:39
Speaker 5: considered in the top fifteen, the top twenty, you know,
23:41
Speaker 5: most likely going to be a first round pick here
23:44
Speaker 5: in this twenty twenty six OHL draft. So Austin Ottenhoff
23:47
Speaker 5: from Quinty, the forward, right handed shot, definitely a name
23:51
Speaker 5: to keep and then cash Quasha for me. You know,
23:54
Speaker 5: this kid is unreal, you know, absolutely unreal, you know,
23:58
Speaker 5: top to bottom, just an elite talent. You know, he's
24:01
Speaker 5: got not just the the high end skill you know,
24:06
Speaker 5: to to be an offensive threat, but he's got all
24:09
Speaker 5: the other stuff. You know, he plays a physical brand
24:11
Speaker 5: of hockey. He's not afraid to go into the corners,
24:14
Speaker 5: you know, the back checking, the checking, the stick checking,
24:17
Speaker 5: you know, the defensive zone, being aware of passing lanes.
24:20
Speaker 5: You know, when we when I watched him in that
24:22
Speaker 5: first game, you know that you know that stuff really
24:24
Speaker 5: you know, jumped off the page for me. He was
24:26
Speaker 5: able to score in that game. He had an assist
24:28
Speaker 5: as well two points as the player of the game.
24:31
Speaker 5: But I think you know, he also earned himself, you know,
24:34
Speaker 5: a really really good shout as a as a stable
24:37
Speaker 5: and defensively, responsible forward. He was by far, you know,
24:41
Speaker 5: one of the best players in that game, and just
24:45
Speaker 5: a presence, you know, a really respectful young man, you know,
24:49
Speaker 5: very kind, welcoming, you know when we did the interview.
24:52
Speaker 5: So he's going to go very far in the sport,
24:54
Speaker 5: whether it be in the National Hockey League or or
24:57
Speaker 5: what have you. A very respectable young man in very
25:00
Speaker 5: respectable hockey player. So I wanted to mention him as well.
25:04
Speaker 5: Adrian Scrow of the Von Kings and the GTHL, the
25:08
Speaker 5: highest ranked defenseman coming this upcoming twenty twenty six OAHL draft,
25:15
Speaker 5: had an unfortunate exit to his game. A physical player
25:20
Speaker 5: and you know that was part of what we saw
25:22
Speaker 5: from him this morning. A fight brought his early morning
25:26
Speaker 5: game to an end. And you know I noticed that
25:29
Speaker 5: right away. He's got feet like he can move, but
25:31
Speaker 5: he loves to play the body, and you know he's
25:33
Speaker 5: a scrappy young player. So another guy to really keep
25:36
Speaker 5: an eye on. Adrian Scrow from the Von King's probably
25:39
Speaker 5: going to be one of the highest.
25:41
Speaker 4: Drafted defensemen in this upcoming draft.
25:44
Speaker 5: And then to finish it off, Lachland Whalen and Arjen
25:47
Speaker 5: Nanubai my last two picks Lachland Whalen, of course, the
25:50
Speaker 5: quinty red Devil sniper. I mean, this kid has scored
25:53
Speaker 5: I think thirty five goals in thirty six games. He
25:55
Speaker 5: seems to score every time he hits the ice. And
25:58
Speaker 5: he did it again this morning. He scored a beautiful
26:00
Speaker 5: goals you know, fired one, you know, five hole on
26:05
Speaker 5: the goaltender, and you know, really again just plays with
26:08
Speaker 5: that pace, plays with that edge. You know, you can
26:10
Speaker 5: really see the difference between these elite guys and you know,
26:13
Speaker 5: some of the other guys down the line, not to
26:15
Speaker 5: say that they're not good hockey players, but when you
26:17
Speaker 5: see a guy that you know plays with you know,
26:20
Speaker 5: just a little bit more of an oomph, you know
26:22
Speaker 5: to his game, you know, you really can appreciate it.
26:25
Speaker 4: And Lachland Whalen is one of those guys.
26:27
Speaker 5: And then ar Jan Nanubai are our last interview of
26:29
Speaker 5: the day, who played in the most recent the twelve
26:33
Speaker 5: pm start Team Dickinson and Team Seneca. Just absolutely flies
26:37
Speaker 5: out there. Another guy who found the back of the net.
26:39
Speaker 5: Scored a beautiful goal cutting off the left half wall
26:42
Speaker 5: and found himself in a soft spot, just in that
26:45
Speaker 5: high slot area, fired one low blocker and you know, again,
26:48
Speaker 5: just another guy that floats around the ice. It's just effortless.
26:51
Speaker 5: It's effortless, and you know those are for me. You
26:55
Speaker 5: know the guys that I really wanted to mention, I'll.
26:57
Speaker 3: Mention someone else from from Team Black, and that was
27:00
Speaker 3: Jace Wortman. He had a couple of nice goals in
27:02
Speaker 3: this game and set up a goal as well. He's
27:05
Speaker 3: not a guy that is projected to go very high
27:07
Speaker 3: in the Ohl Draft, but again for somebody that stood
27:09
Speaker 3: out today, he's definitely somebody that I think caught the
27:11
Speaker 3: eye of some scouts and who knows, maybe maybe a
27:14
Speaker 3: performance like you had today, you know, moves them up
27:16
Speaker 3: a little bit from being a late round pick to
27:18
Speaker 3: a mid round pick. But you don't want to take
27:20
Speaker 3: too much of a snapshot from a tournament like this
27:22
Speaker 3: or even like an Ohl Cup where guys have a
27:24
Speaker 3: good showing, but you want to know their body of work.
27:26
Speaker 3: You want to make sure the scouts are doing their
27:28
Speaker 3: due diligence throughout a long minor hockey season. But he
27:31
Speaker 3: was somebody that had a good performance, so I felt
27:33
Speaker 3: like he was worth a showow from the Toronto Junior Canadians.
27:35
Speaker 1: Jase Wortman, Yeah for sure.
27:37
Speaker 5: And you know that's a guy that you know, played
27:39
Speaker 5: on a really talented team. So you know, you talk
27:43
Speaker 5: about not being able to take an effective snap shot
27:45
Speaker 5: from a tournament like this, but it's also difficult to
27:48
Speaker 5: take us napshot of a player when they're you know.
27:50
Speaker 4: Shadowed by a guy like Cash Quasha.
27:53
Speaker 5: You know, Cash is you know leading that you know,
27:55
Speaker 5: Toronto team all year and they have you know, the
27:58
Speaker 5: Junior Canadians are reppers and d very well here at
28:02
Speaker 5: this at this weekend, they got you know, one, two, three,
28:06
Speaker 5: Cash being four.
28:08
Speaker 4: You know, just looking here, you know.
28:10
Speaker 5: Five, six, seven, eight, nine players and I'm probably missing
28:17
Speaker 5: a few here just you know, looking up and down
28:20
Speaker 5: this this roster sheet. Nine players from the Toronto Junior
28:23
Speaker 5: Canadians here at this Ohl Futures camp.
28:26
Speaker 4: So you know, it's hard to you know, really.
28:28
Speaker 5: Put you know value on a prospect that plays on
28:32
Speaker 5: such a talented team like Toronto. You know, Vortman, you know,
28:35
Speaker 5: could very well be a top pick. He could very
28:38
Speaker 5: well be you know, a first or a second round selection.
28:41
Speaker 5: But when you play on a team you know that
28:43
Speaker 5: good everybody looks really good. And then you know, the
28:46
Speaker 5: one guy who looks elite above the rest of.
28:49
Speaker 4: Them is the guy who really gets pulled out of
28:51
Speaker 4: the piles.
28:51
Speaker 5: So, you know, I think for him, like you said,
28:54
Speaker 5: two really nice goals, you know, showcased his ability to
28:58
Speaker 5: you know, sniff out at loose puck and eying those
29:00
Speaker 5: dangerous you know, niche areas around the ice, and you know,
29:04
Speaker 5: definitely somebody worth mentioning. I think also from that team though,
29:07
Speaker 5: Peter Felon, I really liked his game earlier this morning,
29:11
Speaker 5: the forward forward out of the Woodbridge wolf Pack, our
29:14
Speaker 5: first the United States. Oh great name, yeah the double
29:18
Speaker 5: w's yeah, Woodbridge wolf Pack us the first United States
29:24
Speaker 5: born player that will mention here. Peter Felon, I thought,
29:27
Speaker 5: you know, just noticeable his feet and the speed that
29:32
Speaker 5: he moves the puck with. I think, you know, in
29:34
Speaker 5: comparison to the rest of the company here, he is
29:36
Speaker 5: maybe a little bit more elite in that regard. There's
29:39
Speaker 5: definitely other aspects of his game that he'll look to develop,
29:42
Speaker 5: but I think the speed and the hands were something
29:44
Speaker 5: that I really noticed from him.
29:47
Speaker 3: Lucas Matheson was also a player that was not able
29:49
Speaker 3: to play in this tournament or the showcase. Excuse me
29:53
Speaker 3: from Barry in the Omha is unable to attend. Arjin
29:57
Speaker 3: Nanubay what a player he is going to be. He
30:00
Speaker 3: not only did he score a highlight real goal in
30:03
Speaker 3: the game, he was named player of the game as well. Again,
30:06
Speaker 3: that's only one game out of three they're going to
30:08
Speaker 3: play this weekend. But the snapshot you saw number thirty nine,
30:13
Speaker 3: which is incredible for a player number. By the way,
30:15
Speaker 3: when I think of that, I think of dominic Ash. Yeah,
30:17
Speaker 3: for the Sabers, but.
30:19
Speaker 5: I don't think he chose and I think he was
30:20
Speaker 5: given to him. Yeah, it's a great number.
30:22
Speaker 3: But you know, caught up with his family as well.
30:24
Speaker 3: Seemed like good people and seemed like a really really
30:27
Speaker 3: nice young young man as well when you were talking
30:29
Speaker 3: to him in the interview. But he looks like coming
30:31
Speaker 3: out of the Mississauga Senators GHL program. He's a guy
30:35
Speaker 3: to watch as well.
30:36
Speaker 5: Definitely a guy to watch, and for me, I'd say
30:38
Speaker 5: a safe bet for a top ten pick, like you know,
30:40
Speaker 5: maybe even a top five.
30:42
Speaker 4: You know, this kid is just electric.
30:44
Speaker 5: You know, on his on his edges, and you know
30:46
Speaker 5: that that's really what it comes down to It comes
30:48
Speaker 5: down to his skating ability. I think you know, the
30:51
Speaker 5: best players you know in the world, you look at them.
30:54
Speaker 5: You look at a Cale mccarr or a Connor McDavid,
30:58
Speaker 5: or a maclin Celabrini, or you know, anybody a Matthew Schaeffer,
31:02
Speaker 5: you know another OHL draft pick. You know, you know
31:05
Speaker 5: these guys, they play the game with speed. That's what
31:08
Speaker 5: makes them elite. They're able to get to those areas
31:11
Speaker 5: fast with the puck and with intelligence. And our jin
31:16
Speaker 5: Nanabay is a guy that's going to be able to
31:18
Speaker 5: do that. The bigger, the stronger that he gets, he's
31:22
Speaker 5: only gonna get faster, He's only gonna get more dangerous.
31:24
Speaker 5: I think a summer of strength training, conditioning, and you know, developing.
31:30
Speaker 5: You know, maybe his shot a little bit will put
31:31
Speaker 5: him in a position to be, you know, a dangerous
31:34
Speaker 5: player in the OHL next year.
31:35
Speaker 4: Yeah.
31:35
Speaker 3: And something that makes this interesting Christian as well, is
31:38
Speaker 3: obviously with work not getting the exceptional status moves number
31:42
Speaker 3: one exactly because when you get granted exceptional, you have
31:45
Speaker 3: to go first overall, you have to go So now,
31:47
Speaker 3: what is that race going to look like? Are we
31:49
Speaker 3: are we talking about you? Know Logan Pritam from the
31:52
Speaker 3: Upper Canada College that that you mentioned earlier, six foot
31:55
Speaker 3: seven right shot forward only fifteen years, only six foot
31:58
Speaker 3: seven at fifteen, Like, I can't even see, I can't
32:00
Speaker 3: even dream of that. It's by the unbelievable.
32:03
Speaker 5: I think there's like there's also a couple of guys
32:06
Speaker 5: that are not here from those that OHL list, Caine
32:11
Speaker 5: Clutch to name one, and a couple of other names
32:15
Speaker 5: that are up in that top five that upper echelon
32:18
Speaker 5: that aren't here at this camp. But I would say,
32:20
Speaker 5: from what I've seen today, if I were to draft
32:23
Speaker 5: based on just this sample size, I would say Logan
32:26
Speaker 5: Pritams in the conversation, Cash Quajas in the conversation, and yeah,
32:33
Speaker 5: I would say that's about it, and Arjie and Ubai.
32:36
Speaker 5: I would say, those are your three guys you know
32:38
Speaker 5: from this camp here that you know bring the kind
32:40
Speaker 5: of skill sets that you're looking for in a number
32:42
Speaker 5: one overall pick. And I think you know, any team
32:44
Speaker 5: in the OHL would be happy, you know with those guys.
32:47
Speaker 5: So but yeah, to your point, like, if if it's
32:50
Speaker 5: not Kaidan.
32:50
Speaker 4: O'Rourke, who is it?
32:51
Speaker 5: And I guess we're going to figure that out over
32:53
Speaker 5: you know, the next month and a half.
32:55
Speaker 1: I felt like going up to Roger Hunt today and asked,
32:57
Speaker 1: as he who you picking?
33:00
Speaker 4: We got?
33:00
Speaker 1: We got Joshawa.
33:01
Speaker 3: Generals are gonna get a great player and they have
33:03
Speaker 3: not picked first overall since John Taveras. So I mean
33:05
Speaker 3: they're gonna get a the next the great Oshawa.
33:08
Speaker 5: Yeah, it would have been would have been cool too
33:10
Speaker 5: if they got exceptional status, just like because like Tavaris
33:13
Speaker 5: would be you know, back to back first overall picks
33:16
Speaker 5: as exceptional status picks. But nonetheless, lots of unreal talent
33:21
Speaker 5: here on display. Still two more hockey games to go
33:24
Speaker 5: to tonight. There's one more actually right now we're watching
33:29
Speaker 5: it through the glass here. That's oh wait, no three
33:31
Speaker 5: more sorry, So team Schaeffer and Team Perek doing battle
33:35
Speaker 5: right now, Team Seneca, Team Misa for thirty team count
33:38
Speaker 5: and Team Dickinson at six thirty. But I think you
33:41
Speaker 5: know the sample sides we've seen, you know you can
33:44
Speaker 5: make a judgment on these players, you know there those
33:46
Speaker 5: are your your top guys.
33:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, and just my final thought on on Logan Pridam,
33:51
Speaker 3: because I can't take my eyes off this guy, because
33:53
Speaker 3: He's just massive out there, and not only because he
33:56
Speaker 3: models his game after Tage Thompson, which, yes, you know
34:00
Speaker 3: that's an unbelievable comparison given his size.
34:02
Speaker 1: He's a right shot, six foot seven forward. He's fifteen.
34:05
Speaker 1: He's not going to be sixteen till August.
34:08
Speaker 4: It's hard to.
34:08
Speaker 5: Believe that you can be that tall at that age,
34:10
Speaker 5: Like I was. I'm five nine and a half now, maybe,
34:17
Speaker 5: like maybe I'm that tall when I was fourteen, I
34:20
Speaker 5: was probably four foot eight.
34:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, but we're not even gonna talk about what.
34:24
Speaker 5: This guy is is the size of a basketball player
34:28
Speaker 5: right now and he's fourteen years old. Like, you know,
34:31
Speaker 5: if he adds a couple more inches, he could be
34:34
Speaker 5: I could be looking at the tallest player in NHL
34:36
Speaker 5: history right here.
34:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, it might be maybe up growing. I don't know today,
34:40
Speaker 1: six foot nine something.
34:42
Speaker 4: Is that the tallest player in NHL history?
34:43
Speaker 1: I think so?
34:44
Speaker 4: I think so.
34:44
Speaker 3: But he's he had forty four goals and fifty to
34:46
Speaker 3: assist too, So it's not like he's just a bruising
34:48
Speaker 3: guy out there. Like he's got the skilled to be
34:50
Speaker 3: able to keep up with some of those guys. I
34:52
Speaker 3: know that the team result for what was he what
34:55
Speaker 3: team was he on today?
34:56
Speaker 1: Team?
34:57
Speaker 3: He's team right, they lost their game earlier today, But again,
35:02
Speaker 3: it is what it is, right, like, we're not really
35:04
Speaker 3: looking at the final scores of these games and making
35:07
Speaker 3: a judgment call on whether these players are are playing
35:09
Speaker 3: well or not. As we're speaking right now, they're actually
35:11
Speaker 3: on the ice team Red against team team Blue. So
35:14
Speaker 3: this is definitely a fun one to watch. But yeah,
35:17
Speaker 3: I mean, there's there's a lot of players today that
35:19
Speaker 3: you look out there and you want to see their
35:20
Speaker 3: birth certificate because you're almost wondering.
35:23
Speaker 1: If these guys are actually twenty ten draft.
35:27
Speaker 4: Exactly.
35:28
Speaker 3: And I mean I'm aging myself because now, Christian, you're
35:31
Speaker 3: going to be there soon. But these are now guys
35:34
Speaker 3: that are being draft eligible in the same year that
35:36
Speaker 3: I drafted high school. So that is gonna be an
35:38
Speaker 3: culter shock for you.
35:39
Speaker 1: In a few years.
35:40
Speaker 5: I I'm ten years away, okay, because I graduated high
35:44
Speaker 5: school in twenty twenty.
35:46
Speaker 1: You're still a spring chicken.
35:47
Speaker 5: These guys would have been ten years old when I graduated,
35:51
Speaker 5: So I mean, at least there's that, you know, I
35:54
Speaker 5: am definitely a decent number of years ahead of these
35:58
Speaker 5: young men.
35:58
Speaker 1: But you'll get there one day.
36:00
Speaker 4: I'll get there one day.
36:01
Speaker 3: So I guess final thoughts here Christian as we sort
36:04
Speaker 3: of wrap it up again, if you want to go
36:06
Speaker 3: and check out the chats that Christian was able to do,
36:09
Speaker 3: they'll be on the arm heare GM Sports Network YouTube
36:11
Speaker 3: page later in the week. If you're listening to this
36:13
Speaker 3: on Saturday or Sunday, sometime later in the in the
36:17
Speaker 3: beginning of next week, we'll be able to put it
36:19
Speaker 3: all together with the b roll and and everything like that.
36:22
Speaker 3: It'll be available and it'll come out great. But I guess,
36:25
Speaker 3: what are your final takeaways from what we've been able
36:27
Speaker 3: to see here and what do you hope that these
36:29
Speaker 3: kids take away from this experience between the off ice
36:32
Speaker 3: testing yesterday and the full full lineup of games today
36:36
Speaker 3: and tomorrow before they head off for a very important
36:39
Speaker 3: and I'm sure stressful month or so left before their
36:43
Speaker 3: names are called the OHL Draft in June.
36:45
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I think if I were in their shoes,
36:49
Speaker 5: what I would want to take away from this is,
36:51
Speaker 5: you know, gauging and understanding of where I'm at right
36:56
Speaker 5: and what work do I need to do, you know,
36:59
Speaker 5: from now until you know the draft from now until
37:02
Speaker 5: you know, the next OAHL season, to make sure that
37:04
Speaker 5: I can compete with those guys. Right, everybody on the
37:07
Speaker 5: ice here is competing with each other, right, you know,
37:10
Speaker 5: at some point in the future they might be teammates,
37:13
Speaker 5: but today they are competitors competing for the same spot
37:16
Speaker 5: in the OHL draft. What I would, you know, hope
37:18
Speaker 5: that they're doing is stacking themselves up, maybe doing a
37:21
Speaker 5: little bit of a self reflection, you know, so to speak,
37:25
Speaker 5: to say, you know what, you know, I'm great at this,
37:27
Speaker 5: but maybe I'm not so good at that. And you know,
37:29
Speaker 5: the teams that I've played for, the places that I've played,
37:32
Speaker 5: maybe you know, I didn't realize, you know, because I
37:35
Speaker 5: was the best there that you know, there's not another
37:38
Speaker 5: side of my game.
37:38
Speaker 4: That I have to develop.
37:39
Speaker 5: So I think for them, it's obviously a great experience
37:42
Speaker 5: to be here here, you know, with the OHL wearing
37:45
Speaker 5: that jersey, to feel like they're part of the league.
37:47
Speaker 5: You know, it's obviously a big step for them in
37:50
Speaker 5: their young hockey careers, but also a learning experience.
37:52
Speaker 4: I hope that they take something.
37:53
Speaker 5: Away from this and use that to help them develop
37:58
Speaker 5: over the next six seven months. To get themselves ready
38:01
Speaker 5: come September, and it's.
38:02
Speaker 3: Nice to see where they stuck up against your peers. Right,
38:04
Speaker 3: these are all the guys that are the same age
38:06
Speaker 3: group as you, except for Rooric, really everybody else is
38:09
Speaker 3: in that same same boat. And you know that the
38:12
Speaker 3: transition to the to the Ontario Hockey League as well
38:14
Speaker 3: could could be right away for some of these guys.
38:16
Speaker 3: It could be one or two years down the road.
38:18
Speaker 3: But again, everybody's development path is different, and we'll sort
38:21
Speaker 3: of see, you know, how these guys transition. And it
38:24
Speaker 3: doesn't matter if you're picked on day one or day two,
38:27
Speaker 3: if you're first or fifteenth round pick. You know, things
38:30
Speaker 3: could could end up working out where you've seen it
38:32
Speaker 3: in the past. So I hope that these kids, no
38:34
Speaker 3: matter where they they go in June, they don't get
38:36
Speaker 3: too discouraged over it, because you put in the work
38:39
Speaker 3: and you develop right wherever, wherever that is for you,
38:42
Speaker 3: in whatever league, you know, you can carve out a
38:44
Speaker 3: career for yourself exactly.
38:45
Speaker 4: You know, it doesn't doesn't really matter where.
38:46
Speaker 5: You start, and the the OHL Draft is your start.
38:50
Speaker 5: I mean, obviously, the you know, minor hockey years are
38:52
Speaker 5: important to you. Know, develop your skills to a certain
38:55
Speaker 5: base primitive to allow you to compete, you know, at
38:58
Speaker 5: the OAHL level. But I think these you know coming years,
39:01
Speaker 5: you know, for these young men, especially the next one
39:03
Speaker 5: or two years are really the most important of their
39:06
Speaker 5: young career to hopefully, you know, put themselves in a
39:09
Speaker 5: you know spot to be considered for you know, an
39:12
Speaker 5: NHL draft, you know, a draft choice.
39:14
Speaker 4: And they're still still growing.
39:16
Speaker 5: So yeah, definitely important couple of years, but you know,
39:20
Speaker 5: fun a couple of years. I can imagine for these
39:22
Speaker 5: young men to be you know, going through this, it
39:24
Speaker 5: has to be a great experience. So you know, really
39:26
Speaker 5: just kudos to all of them, you know, for being
39:28
Speaker 5: the respectable, the you know, the talented and uh you
39:31
Speaker 5: know fun to watch young men that they are. They
39:33
Speaker 5: you know that they make this event what it is.
39:35
Speaker 5: It's you know, not the same without those kids out
39:37
Speaker 5: there on the ice. So you know, really thankful for them,
39:40
Speaker 5: and you know, thankful to be here and just be
39:41
Speaker 5: a part of it.
39:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, just congratulations and kudos to those players being able
39:46
Speaker 3: to be here today. This is a prestigious thing to
39:48
Speaker 3: be invited to.
39:49
Speaker 4: That's it.
39:50
Speaker 3: And if I were here as a player, I would
39:52
Speaker 3: be soaking it all in and you know, just being
39:54
Speaker 3: proud of being able to get to this point in
39:56
Speaker 3: your career. Before you know, things start to get really
39:59
Speaker 3: intense and and you know it starts to turn into
40:01
Speaker 3: the business aspect of things. You know, this is this
40:03
Speaker 3: is all the sacrifice you put in, all those years
40:06
Speaker 3: of going to early morning games, early more practices.
40:09
Speaker 1: Parents and the parents well shut out for them.
40:11
Speaker 3: So you know, I think it's driving all around, you know,
40:14
Speaker 3: changing work schedules around, so the family kind all press.
40:17
Speaker 5: Is where you know, it all kind of comes to
40:19
Speaker 5: a head, right, It all becomes worth it, you know
40:21
Speaker 5: for the moms and the dads that if you know,
40:23
Speaker 5: they get drafted, and you know they'll know soon enough
40:25
Speaker 5: a month and a half till draft nights, so we'll
40:27
Speaker 5: see all these young men in about a month and
40:29
Speaker 5: a half time.
40:30
Speaker 3: Absolutely, Christian, thanks a lot for joining me today to
40:33
Speaker 3: be able to to have you on the network with
40:35
Speaker 3: you know, your knowledge of the minor hockey system and
40:39
Speaker 3: in the GOHL as well. Look forward to having you
40:41
Speaker 3: going forward into next season as well doing some stuff
40:44
Speaker 3: for us on the network. Great job with the interviews
40:46
Speaker 3: today that will obviously again, be on the arm Pre
40:48
Speaker 3: GM Sports Network YouTube channel later next week.
40:51
Speaker 1: And you know, just really.
40:53
Speaker 3: Thankful to be able to have somebody to talk to today
40:55
Speaker 3: instead of just doing this by myself.
40:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, always a pleasure of Brandon, thanks for having me.
40:59
Speaker 3: So that's going to wrap it up for another episode
41:01
Speaker 3: of OHL Overtime right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network.
41:04
Speaker 1: Thank it.
41:04
Speaker 3: Everybody tuned in on your favorite on demand audio podcast platform,
41:07
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41:12
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Speaker 3: searching the arm Share GM Sports that we're far our
41:17
Speaker 3: short reels and content that's going to be it from
41:20
Speaker 3: the OHL Futures Camp here at Ridley College in Saint
41:23
Speaker 3: Catharine's in the Niagara region. For Christian Simmons, mine is
41:26
Speaker 3: Brandon Cokpudo. Have yourself a great weekend. We'll talk to
41:28
Speaker 3: you again very soon here on the armchare GM Sports Network.
41:48
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network