His time as a Barrie Colt has come to an end, but Beau Jelsma says he will never forget the city he called his home for four years.
A fan favourite, the Colts’ captain endeared himself to the city with his leave-it-all-out-there effort and a fiery determination that made him the heart and soul of the team, especially over his last two seasons.
For the 21-year-old native of Brownsville (located near Woodstock) being a Colt will always be something he cherishes, but as he gets ready to move on to the next chapter in his life Jelsma says he’ll always be thankful for the relationships he built and just how much he grew up as a person here.
“You know, it’s the people I met,” Jelsma said of what stands out over his time in Barrie after arriving in 2021 for his rookie season. “I’ve met so many great people over the years. It’s such a great fan base. I came in and I really didn’t know too much about how I was going to do as a player, and I was just a learner. I learned every day. I had great coaches over the years.
“It turned me into a man. Just seeing the charity work that we’ve done and getting out in the community or even walking around the mall and getting pointed out. It’s pretty special. It’s nice how people look up to me because I would do the same at their age.”
The sweep at the hands of the Oshawa Generals in the OHL Eastern Conference Finals, he admits, still stings. An emotional Jelsma took it hard after the series-clinching 8-4 loss in Oshawa. Knowing, as he looked around the dressing room, that it was the last game they would ever play as a team.
“It was a tough pill to swallow, especially with it being my last year and us going for it the way we did,” said Jelsma. “It was heartbreaking, especially that last game losing out. You got to give it to the boys; we fought to the very end. That’s just the way it goes.
“I felt like maybe we ran out of gas a little bit in that series from the second round when we went to seven (games) with Kingston. It obviously sucks. Barrie has been a big part of my life over the years.”
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Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson admits he felt for his captain and “great young man” after the loss.
“You can talk to him at any time, and he looks you in the eyes,” said Williamson after the loss in Game 4. “I have a ton of appreciation for Beau Jelsma. It was tough seeing the tears in his eyes tonight and what he’s given this organization, our community, and what he does for this team.
“In hockey, you meet all these guys, and you just get a gut feeling on who is going to be successful in life and whether it’s playing in the NHL or being a successful person, family man, a good dad, all those kinds of things. . . The qualities Beau Jelsma has. He’s going to be a successful person in life. We love the kid.”
Despite the short series, Jelsma said what also hurts is feeling that it could have been a completely different series with the Generals had a couple of breaks gone their way.
“Game 1 was anyone’s game, really,” he said of the 3-1 loss at home. “We kind of had a bad start, but we pushed on and made a couple of mistakes that ended up in the back of our net. Game 2 we just had not a great game, but Game 3, that was a tough one.”
Barrie led 6-5 before giving up the tying goal with 1:04 remaining and then missing a couple of golden opportunities to end it in the first overtime before Oshawa won it 7-6 in double overtime.
“Them coming back and losing in overtime like that, it’s tough,” he added. “It’s tough to get by going into their barn down 3-0. We gave it everything we had. It just didn’t go our way.”
Before this season, Jelsma had only gone deep in the playoffs once before in 2023, when a Barrie team led by Evan Vierling, Ethan Cardwell, and Brandt Clarke lost a seven-game heartbreaker to the North Bay Battalion in the conference semifinals.
Which made this year’s loss even harder.
“We had a really great team that year, too,” said Jelsma, who was a third-round pick of the Colts in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection. “We had a tight group. We were brothers. That’s the thing with Barrie; we’ve always had tight groups. That was also heartbreaking to (lose) that way, especially losing Vierling that year (after Game 2).
“It was a little different than this year because it hits a little different because it was my last year here.”
It was the second year in a row the season ended at the hands of the Generals, though it was a much different case last year when a Barrie team looked to the future and dumped at the trade deadline, moving stalwarts like Jacob Frasca and captain Connor Punnett.
Jelsma, though, wouldn’t let the team use that as an excuse to cruise through the remainder of the season. Not only did the Colts make the playoffs, but they also pushed an Oshawa team that went to the league finals to six games.
Jelsma wants to win no matter the odds and he asked his teammates to hop on his shoulders, and they did exactly that.
“I remember last year we had a meeting after the trade deadline and that’s when I was appointed captain,” he explained. “I had a meeting with the boys, and I said this is our team. Obviously, we’re looking to the future, but we said to ourselves we’re able to play with teams and we gave everything we got every night.
“We played hard and won a lot of games with such a young core we had. We went into the playoffs with Oshawa and had a really good run.”
Jelsma could have been another veteran moved at last year’s trade deadline. He’s happy that didn’t happen and got to finish his junior career in Barrie.
“The year before there was some interest in trading me to a contender,” explained Jelsma of a conversation he had with team owner Howie Campbell. “Howie said we’re going to keep you here and we’re going to promise you that we’ll go all-in the next year and try to win this thing.
“You got to give it to the Colts, they were a man of their word, and they did that. It was exciting to see all those great guys coming in and making such a big impact on our team. It was truly special to be a part of a run like that.”
As for what’s next, Jelsma said he plans on getting a little rest and doing a little work on the farm.
“I’m going to take some time off and go work on the farm a little bit and help my mom out with some power skating,” he said. “Just get back into the gym and get working hard again. Just enjoy my time off, especially right now because it was a long run and I got some bumps and bruises that need to get healed.
“Just got to enjoy it and get ready for the next year because it’s going to be a big year for me.”
No matter where his next chapter takes him, Jelsma said he won’t forget those he met along the way in Barrie. He still keeps in touch with players he played with during his rookie season. They still get together and hang out in the summer.
“Everyone I’ve played with over my years, they’re family to me now whether they like it or not,” said Jelsma, adding a chuckle. “That’s just how it is. You play together every day. You spend more time with them than you do with your own family. It’s a brotherhood.”
He is thankful for everyone he met along the way and a city he will always hold close to his heart.
“They made it feel like home over the years, and I can’t thank everyone enough for treating me so well,” said Jelsma. “To be captain of a city like that is truly special for me and something I’ll always remember in my life.”
