The rest and relaxation, family time and gift opening behind them, the Barrie Colts return to face an uphill climb to make the playoffs and a trade deadline just around the corner that could result in some extensive changes in the stables at Sadlon Arena.
The Colts find themselves six points behind the Kingston Frontenacs for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as they get set to host the Sudbury Wolves on Thursday night.
With five games to the official half-way mark of the OHL schedule, Barrie didn’t expect to be exactly here when the puck dropped on the 2023-24 season.
Yet, here we are.
A wrath of injuries combined with some early struggles has resulted in a disappointing 12-16-1-0 record at the Christmas break and instead of fighting to lock up home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, the Colts are in a battle just to make the playoffs.
Now, as the Jan. 10 trade deadline looms, the Colts will have to decide whether a look to next year is the right move. That means moving valuable veterans like captain Connor Punnett, Jacob Frasca, and goalie Anson Thornton if he’s returned by the Arizona Coyotes.
Opposing OHL teams have already come sniffing around.
“We’re getting lots of calls on our guys and we just got to make a tough decision on what is best for our team going forward and see how that kind of pans out,” said Williamson.
Injuries have hit a young Colts team hard in the opening months of this season. Top blueliner and Edmonton Oilers prospect Beau Akey was lost for the season to shoulder surgery and a hip injury in early November to veteran forward Jacob Frasca has limited him to playing just 12 of the team’s 29 games.
The loss has been massive for a young Colts team, especially on specialty teams where both the power play and penalty-killing units are near the bottom of the league.
Frasca is expected to return tonight, as is Bode Stewart (shoulder), but a decision is at hand for Williamson and Colts’ brass.
“Getting Bode Stewart back will be a big help. He was playing really well before the injury,” said the Barrie bench boss. “Obviously, Frasca, I can’t say how much we miss him between the faceoffs and the goals we’re missing around the net on the power play. He scores those kinds of goals for us. If we get him back, we got some tough decisions.”
It's easy to understand the frustration.
The ability to load up a veteran team was there last year when a Colts team led by Brandt Clarke, Evan Vierling and Ethan Cardwell sat among the OHL’s top teams.
The addition of a Shane Wright or another top forward might have put Barrie over the top. Barrie might have had a legit shot to win it all had they not lost Vierling to injury in its seven-game loss to North Bay.
Still, the belief was there that the Colts could ice a strong team this season and even stronger next year.
Even with a young club, the Colts felt they could be right there in a wide-open Eastern Conference race. Instead, injuries to two of its top players and Thornton staying up in the AHL have been too hard to overcome.
“It’s tough,” said Williamson. “When you look at our lineup, I thought we had a lot of promise and losing Akey and Frasca really took a big bite out of us. Akey was a staple on our backend and Frasca is a leader up front, and losing those guys all of a sudden everything compounds and we lose.
“Then we just get more injuries on top of it, and we seem to be chasing our tail a little bit in games.”
There have been positives. Beau Jelsma has been Beau Jelsma. The heart and soul player has been a force night in and night out. Every night, he tries to put the team on his back.
The Barrie roster also includes two of the biggest surprises in the OHL this season.
It was only a year ago, rookie goaltender Sam Hillebrandt was playing Jr. C hockey. This season, he’s locked down the starting role in the crease with Barrie, and he’s currently overseas as a member of a U.S. national junior team considered a favourite to win the gold medal in Sweden at the world championships.
Then there’s the play of rookie defenceman Jack Brauti. The 17-year-old has the composure of a veteran. He plays with a physical edge and has shown the ability to log key minutes whether his team is protecting a lead or trying to tie it up.
Rookie first-rounder Shamar Moses has shown glimpses that he has all the tools to become a top power forward in the league, while Kashawn Aitcheson has taken a big step forward in his second year on the blue line.
Colt's second-year forward Cole Beaudoin is blossoming into a top centre. Few players work harder than the former 10th overall pick who is a top prospect for this year’s NHL Entry Draft.
And despite the struggles, the young club has shown a great resiliency to get back up. To never quit in hockey games.
Just before the break they rallied in the third to beat the Mississauga Steelheads in overtime and then clawed back from a three-goal third-period deficit against the Kitchener Rangers, the OHL’s top team, only to lose in overtime.
“It’s a great quality,” Williamson said his young club has. “When you never give up, you always have a puncher’s chance and that’s kind of been our motto a little bit for a few of these games. Maybe a few teams back off a little bit because they got a lead and that’s a bad thing to do against us, because we won’t quit.”
Those are qualities that will continue should Barrie unload over these next two weeks and look to the future.
The Colts won’t roll over in their push to make the playoffs. Something you understand when you see this club night in and night out.
Undoubtedly, though, the push to make the playoffs will be much more difficult without key veterans.
Still, at the end of the day, it’s all about doing what’s best for the team. And for the Colts, that’s looking to the future.
If the return is there, the Colts shouldn’t hesitate.
It was only a few years back the Colts made that decision and traded No. 1 centre and top NHL prospect Ryan Suzuki, along with the rights to forwards Ryan Beck and Peter Fleming and a 2020 fifth-round pick to the Saginaw Spirit.
The return?
Barrie received Cardwell, Punnett, a second-round pick, two thirds and a fifth-round selection.
A deal that set up the team well for the future.
Come this January, the approach should be the same.
banner image: Terry Wilson, OHL Images
