Sitting up in the stands, Kashawn Aitcheson watched as the Barrie Colts sped up and down the ice against their opponents at Sadlon Arena.
The newly turned 16-year-old defenceman, like a lot of rookies in the Ontario Hockey League, spent a lot of those early-season days in September and October of 2022 waiting for his chance to crack the lineup.
No one recognized Barrie’s third-round pick (50th overall) in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection. Following a game, he would work his way through the crowd on his way back to the dressing room with nary a look, much less a word or two.
Good luck trying that now.
Walking out of the Barrie dressing room and preparing to speak to a member of the media after a heartbreaking series loss to the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL Championship, fans spot Aitcheson and ask him if they could have a photo with him.
He politely asks for a few minutes to answer some questions first.
His OHL career over, and off soon to embark on a professional career with the New York Islanders, Aitcheson is asked to reflect on the four years that have just flown by.
Four years of an incredible journey from that unknown kid in the stands to easily the most awarded defenceman in Colts’ franchise history.
From a young teenager trying to find his way, to a leader who was looked up to by his teammates and feared by his opponents.
There aren’t many franchise records that Aitcheson doesn’t own now. Goals and points, just to begin with. Then there are the booming hits. No one who has sported a Barrie Colt jersey has ever delivered more bone-crunching open-ice hits than the player whose teammates called “Kash.”
The last year, especially, has been a whirlwind for Aitcheson. From being selected 17th overall by the Islanders in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft to helping Canada win a bronze medal at the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championships.
From signing an entry-level contract with New York to being named the winner of the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL Defenceman of the Year.
Aitcheson has gone from the kid who was just hoping to get into the lineup to the one who never came off it in the championship final.
“It’s crazy,” he said of how fast his junior career has all gone by. “You tell me four years ago, when I was sitting in the stands, that this would be happening with this group of guys, I’d be pretty shocked. It’s a special organization.”
When fellow national junior teammate and Utah Mammoth first-rounder Cole Beaudoin went down with an injury, Aitcheson didn’t flinch when asked to carry a bigger load.
Stars rise to the occasion, and that’s exactly what he did.
Twice, he scored in the dying seconds of a game to push the Rangers to overtime. His one-time hammer with 3.9 seconds remaining sent Game 2 to overtime. He delivered another big game-tying blast in Game 3 with 13.1 seconds left.
The Colts would lose that one in double overtime. Ask him about his feats, and Aitcheson, like any good captain, made sure to praise his teammates for their contributions.
As he stood outside the dressing room, maybe for the last time, and fresh off an exhausting championship series loss to the Rangers, Aitcheson more than anything wanted to thank those who helped him reach the heights that he has here in Barrie.
He named team owner Howie Campbell and vice-president and general manager Marty Williamson. He praised former assistant coach Phillip Barski and current defensive coach Patrick Sexton.
He spoke of rookie coach Dylan Smowkowitz, his brothers in the dressing room, fans, and a city the Toronto native grew to love.
“All the staff just made it so special these four years,” said Aitcheson. “I’ll never forget this place. Barrie is a second home to me. I’ll definitely be back here. Maybe catch a game in the next couple of years, but this will always have a special place in my heart.”
Maybe even one day sit in those stands again.
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TEAM A MEASURING STICK FOR SMOSKOWITZ
To a man, after a heartbreaking loss to Kitchener, Barrie players spoke more about the sadness of breaking the gang up than they did the loss to the Rangers.
All year long, they spoke of the “brotherhood.”
While teams often boast of having a good culture in the dressing room, that’s not always the case.
Veteran forward Carter Lowe said this by far the closest team he has ever played with.
“I know it sounds cliché,” he said. “Everyone says it’s a brotherhood, but in that room are 23 of my best friends. I truly mean that. It’s special. We tried to bring a championship back to Barrie, but it’s the way it goes.”
Smoskowitz said he will use this team as a measuring stick wherever his career takes him, going forward.
“If I ever think we have a good culture. If I ever think I have a good brotherhood on that team, I’m always going to compare it to this team because I know this team is special,” he said. “If ever again I feel like that with whatever team I’m with, I know we’re going to have a chance to win a championship.
“That’s the key ingredient. Whenever you have a brotherhood like these guys had, that’s what carried us here.”
THE ‘WHAT IF’S’ ARE ALWAYS THERE
Smoskowitz praised the Kitchener Rangers for their OHL Championship win, but admits he’s wondered what if things were different.
“What if you had Cole Beaudoin and Joe Salandra, but Kitchener didn’t have Sam O’Reilly? What would the series look like then,” the Colts’ head coach pondered. “That’s why it’s so hard to win these things. It’s not always about the best team, or who is the most well-built, or who won the regular season.
“You’ve got to adapt. You’ve got to stay healthy, and you’ve got to be lucky. When you have every single player available to you because of health, that’s a huge luxury. We didn’t have that.”
While the Colts didn’t talk about it, they were at another disadvantage heading into the finals.
Barrie had a single day between their seven-game Eastern Conference Final series with the Brantford Bulldogs and the opening game of the league championship.
The short window gave them little time to prepare, let alone get over their bumps and bruises from the conference final.
With the relatively short travel distance between the two cities, the league could have scheduled consecutive games and given the Colts an extra day of rest at the start.
