At 15 years old, Shane Wright is playing in a league with guys who are sometimes five or even six years his senior. To this point, the Burlington, Ontario native has shown why he belongs in the Ontario Hockey League, racking up 16 goals and 28 points through his first 27 games.
But that’s why he’s an exceptional status player, and most other 15-year-olds around this province who are playing competitive hockey are doing so in the hopes of hearing their names called in April during one of the 15 rounds of the 2020 Priority Selection. North Bay native Brett Richardson is one of those kids.
“It’s pretty intimidating,” Richardson says about the prospects of being drafted in April.
He was speaking on the phone from Waterloo as his North Bay Trappers Midget AAA club was playing in a tournament in the area and he adds, “We don’t really like to talk about it a lot, but we know it’s there. We know what we have to do. We just have to have fun and play the game that we love and have always loved with your friends.”
When the North Bay Battalion first moved to the Gateway City from Brampton, one of the things former Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach Stan Butler talked about was putting more of a focus on recruiting kids from northern Ontario and hopefully, building a local base to draft out of.
There has been a bit of that trickle-down effect in the seven years that the Battalion have called Memorial Gardens their home, but Richardson could be the first of a big wave of that spill off effect.
He says, “I’ve only ever missed a Battalion game for my own hockey.”
Richardson says enjoying the experience from a fan’s perspective, for the most part, is one thing but he’s also an astute observer, watching the game and seeing what playing at the next level is like.
“Getting a chance twice a week to watch the big guys play in North Bay is crucial. All the little things you can take away from watching the game and trying to model my own game after some of these guys and seeing what it takes. It’s a non-stop grind, but that’s the lifestyle I want to live.”
That’ the benefit a full generation of players from North Bay didn’t get to have between the Centennials leaving in 2002 to the Troop's arrival in 2013.
Talking to Mike Burman a few weeks ago, the former North Bay Centennial and now local Real Estate Agent said it was something all the young hockey players in the city wanted to do; play for the hometown team at Memorial Gardens.
Local players are now recouping those benefits for the first time in over a decade, not just with getting the chance to see the games but also feeding off of every piece of advice the OHL players will give to the younger players, especially if they happen to have that player around the house over the course of the season.
The Richardson family has billeted three players in the past seven years and Richardson says each player has helped him learn the lifestyle and the characteristics it takes to make it in Major Junior hockey.
In 2013-14 they had Connor Jarvis as their billet and Richardson says, “He was a great guy. I was a lot younger when we first had Connor and Triple-A hockey hadn’t even started for me at that point, but I think he helped me mature as a person and a player and showed me how to play like a top player, but how to be humble as well.”
Next came Riley Bruce who would not only get drafted by the Calgary Flames but also captain the Battalion in his overage season.
“The biggest thing with Riley was seeing him go through his NHL draft. Seeing him get drafted by Calgary and all the work he put in prior to the draft and after the draft and showing that it’s a non-stop grind. It was a great lesson to learn.”
And over the last couple of seasons, Braden Henderson has set up shop in the Richardson household.
“We’re a little closer in age, but he’s like my older brother,” Richardson says of the relationship that’s been built between the two.
“We’re pretty close and there’s been a lot of late nights staying up and talking about the OHL draft and what you have to do to get yourself to that point. He’s a fantastic guy and he’s shared a lot of knowledge with me about getting my game to the next level.”
No matter how much he’s learning about the game off the ice, he understands the work will still need to be done on the ice and this season Richardson is looking to make a name for himself that OHL General Managers are going to remember. He says, “I think I started this season a little nervous with all the noise about the OHL. But lately, I’ve been more relaxed, I’ve been scoring more goals. Going into the corners, along the wall and making plays for myself. I think I need to keep improving on my speed and agility as that’s a big part of the game now.”
And even though Richardson has had his sights set on hockey since he could hold a stick, he says there is an advantage to exploring your overall athletic abilities.
He played rep baseball with the Sudbury Shamrocks and says this will be his last year on the diamond as hockey becomes the main focus. However, Richardson adds, “It’s good just to take a break from the game and put up the skates for a while and just have fun in a different atmosphere and a different sport.”
He does find a correlation between the two, “In baseball, you’re swinging and using similar muscles you would use when taking a slap shot. Hand-eye coordination is pretty key for both games as well.”
Some might think playing in northern Ontario could be a hindrance for a player's OHL draft prospects, but for Richardson, there are a lot of lessons to take from being with a team that must deal with a varied travel schedule and learn to adjust from long trips on the road. He adds they are a team that plays up a level and that can only benefit his development.
“We’re playing against 17-year-olds and we’re competing. We are right in a lot of games with all of them. In the OHL that’s who you’re going to be playing against, if you’re 16 years old you’re playing against guys that will be 18 or older. When we go down south we see a lot of the big guns from Toronto and around that area so we get used to playing the game against those big skilled guys.”
The next big checkmark Richardson is looking to tick off the list as he makes a case for one of the 20 OHL clubs to select him is suiting up for Team NOHA at the OHL Cup in March. He says the players selected for this year’s team will find out soon if they are going to head to a tournament that is usually the last (and possibly the best) look the OHL general managers and scouts get on a player before they head to the war rooms and debate which players they think will fit best within their systems.
Benjamin Gaudreau, Pacey Schleuting, and Brady Lyle to name a few are all local players that have heard their name called on draft day in the last few years. Richardson his hoping for the same in just over four months from now.
