Cole Beaudoin was having a rough day on Friday.
The injured Barrie Colts captain, who played just two shifts after the first period in Barrie’s 4-3 overtime win in Game 5 the night before, discovered there was no way he could dress for their do-or-die Eastern Conference Final game against the Brantford Bulldogs on Saturday night at Sadlon Arena.
The top Utah Mammoth prospect, who leads all OHL playoff scorers with 10 goals and 29 points in 15 games, wanted nothing more than to be there with his teammates fighting to keep their season alive.
Instead, he headed back to his billet’s house alone.
“It’s not a fun place to be when you’re having a tough day,” Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz said of his star centre, who lives and breathes the game.
Beaudoin wouldn’t be alone for long.
“Twenty-five of his brothers showed up to keep him company and make sure his spirits were high,” said Smoskowitz. “It wasn’t anything that I did for the players, or any instruction that I gave him. It was a brotherhood.”
With their captain on the bench, the Colts would pull off a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over the Bulldogs, Saturday, to even the best-of-seven series at 3-3 and force a seventh and deciding game Monday night in Brantford.
Beaudoin, dressed in a suit, was a huge inspiration for a team that refused to lose.
“This game was won last night when those 25 guys showed up to help a brother,” said Smoskowitz in the press conference after the game.
With his team pouring on the ice after Mason Zebeski’s overtime winner at 9:38 of overtime, Beaudoin looked on with an ear-to-ear smile.
His face said it all. Zebeski and his teammates loved to see their teammate’s excitement. They wanted to win for their brother.
“It was great,” Zebeski said of bringing joy to Beaudoin. “Obviously, I feel bad. It was a big heartbreak, not just for him, but for the whole team. He’s our brother, and that’s one thing. . . is our family and brotherhood. To make him smile, and what it did for him, meant a lot to us.”
