The Barrie Colts are playing in their 30th season.
The team has done a good job of highlighting 30 of its best players and much of the club’s branding this season revolves around the milestone.
Here’s a different approach: 30 people/persons who have had a hand in building, maintaining and playing for the Ontario Hockey League team. Most are positive contributors, a few not so much. All made a profound impact, which is different than achievement over a short space of time.
So, sorry, Joseph Blandisi, Bryan Cameron, Aaron Luchuk, Alex Pietrangelo and Andrei Svechnikov and one or two others.
This list tends to favour the first and third decade. Forgive me, much of the in-between decade was spent punching out other work and raising two crumb-grabbers.
Here it goes, alphabetically:
Kashawn Aitcheson and Cole Beaudoin: Listed here together and on projection because both could establish themselves as all-time Colts by the end of next season when they outgrow junior hockey.
Sid Armitage: He ran the city’s parks and rec department when the team came to town and when the Barre Molson Centre was a shiny new toy. His deft touch could be used now.
Jane Beattie: A gracious host who ran the Colts scouts/media room in the early years. Many veteran bird dogs still ask about her. Her son, Ted, played for the old Barrie Junior B Colts.
Jan Bulis: One of a few elite players that helped the team be competitive immediately. He remains its best import and had a popular blog named for him after he turned pro.
Howie Campbell: The Colts owner is not everyone’s pint of lager, but he deserves great credit for his commitment to his team, players and city, the latter of whom is not always the best dance partner.
Brandt Clarke: Perhaps the single-most talented player, he is tied with Luch Nasato as the club’s leading scoring D. His junior career was compromised by pandemic restrictions.
B.J. Crombeen: Developed into a sturdy pro and is now a success in the business world. Diagnosed with diabetes as a young kid, he remains an inspiration to young people in a similar position.
Aaron Ekblad: Exceptional player, No. 1 overall (in both drafts), Calder Trophy and Stanley Cup winner. It’s surprising that he wasn’t given more consideration for Team Canada at the upcoming Four Nations tournament.
Brian Finley: One of the OHL’s best goalies for all three of his full seasons in Barrie. That he didn’t become a full-time NHLer is testament to there being no guarantees for even the top prospects.
Dale Hawerchuk: That the Hall of Famer coached junior hockey made him special. A humble, dignified man and reliable bench boss, his untimely demise is proof how unfair life, and death, can be.
Mike Jefferson: Of all that could be written about him, it’s still, well, unbelievable how he could look you in the eye and tell you it’s sunny outside when it’s raining sideways.
Beau Jelsma: The current captain is probably the OHL’s best undrafted player right now. He came to Barrie 30 years after his mom, Penny, skated at Mariposa.
Sheldon Keefe: How could a former captain who won the league and its scoring title, who later became a great coach, be remembered in such hushed tones? If you know, you know.
Kevin Labanc: He shook off a serious concussion and tumble down the draft charts to being a solid NHLer. Added bonus: he married a local girl.
Bryan Little: Here’s an interesting question, who has been the best Colt: Little, Aaron Ekblad or Mark Scheifele? You can only pick one.
Andrew Mangiapane: The are few better examples of undrafted OHLers and late NHL picks who blossomed into great juniors and top-shelf NHLers
J.C. Massie: The late, great man always seemed to have a twinkle in his eye, even when needling a young reporter. Nothing fazed him – except referees – and how could it given what he had been through during the Second World War?
Jamie Massie: He’s missed. Deep pockets with a common touch. The single biggest reason why the Colts exist.
Mike McCann: Local hockey figured was a nice bridge between the old Junior B Colts and the major junior version. Did a good job as chief scout and then GM.
Luch Nasato: The first true fan favourite who remains the team’s co-leader in scoring for D. An edgy fire hydrant, Nasato was even better with how he connected with the public in the team’s first year.
Mathias Niederberger: Two seasons of rock-solid goaltending, him and Brian Finlay have been the Colts best netminders. Played in 35 playoff games, including the 2013 OHL final and likely Germany at the Olympics in 14 months.
Ryan O’Keefe: The former defenceman is on this list for what he represents: former Colts who died far too young. May he, and the others, rest in peace.
Parents: Having a son play in the OHL is both stressful and gratifying. All at once. Imagine how much money these folks have spent locally?
Gene Pereira: The lone person who can claim to have covered the team since the beginning. His dulcet tones can still be heard adding colour on local television broadcasts.
Mark Scheifele: The club’s history could be very different had he not been injured in the 2013 OHL final against London. Like Ekblad, he was a curious Team Canada Four Nations omission.
Bill Stewart: His smartest-man-in-the-room routine had disastrous repercussions, but his coaching that season was likely the difference in winning the Colts lone OHL crown in three decades.
Bert Templeton: The late Colts coach gave the club instant credibility, but his old-school ways soon became too much. He later reported the Colts to the league for border smuggling that blew up into a full-blown scandal.
Daniel Tkaczuk: The team’s first draft pick who later became captain. He soon became the team’s most notable player and was twice a member of Team Canada at the world juniors.
Hunter Tremblay: A rarity in that he played five years and got better each season, followed by four more on some great University of New Brunswick teams.
Marty Williamson: The current coach/GM has had a long, successful run in no small part because of his stewardship. A solid guy, who had a brush with death earlier in his career, thank goodness he survived.
Honourable mentions: Erik Reitz, Michael Henrich, Martin Skoula and Alex Volchkov.
