The return of some familiar faces, along with the addition of some new ones, resulted in a successful trip to Guelph on Friday night for the Barrie Colts.
Cole Beaudoin, Kashawn Aitcheson, and Emil Hemming, fresh off their appearances at the IIHF World Junior Championships, combined for three goals and six points, while recent acquisitions Ben Wilmott, Mason Zebeski, and Parker von Richter each recorded a point in their debuts to help lead the Colts to a 6-3 win over the host Storm at Sleeman Centre.
Fresh off helping Canada to a bronze medal win over Hemming and Finland at worlds in Minnesota, Aitcheson scored twice, and Beaudoin potted his 15th of the season, en route to a three-point night to help Barrie jump out to a 3-1 lead before the game was 13 minutes old.
“It was nice for the guys returning from worlds to get on the board, and they got on the board early,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz. “It was pretty much a world junior dominated period.”
With the OHL trade deadline coming to an end earlier in the day, the Colts (23-10-2-4) also got an immediate boost from their newest additions.
Zebeski and von Richter, acquired from the Brampton Steelheads on Tuesday, each had an assist, while Wilmott, acquired on Thursday from the London Knights, scored his first as a Colt a mere few hours after joining the team at the rink.
“The first time he met his teammates was about an hour and a half before we dropped the puck,” said Smoskowitz. “For him to get on the [scoresheet] was pretty good, as well.”
Wilmott was just happy he could help out in his first game with his new team.
“It felt really good to come in and get a win with the boys here,” said the Seattle, Wash. native, whose 13th of the season made it 5-1 Barrie midway through the second. “It was an interesting day of travel, just to show up right for the game, but it was fun.
“The boys were really welcoming. It was a good time.”
Wilmott is being “thrown into the fire” with his new teammates as the Colts, who also got goals from Cole Emerton and Jaiden Newton, kicked off a three-in-three weekend that will see them return home Saturday night to host Brampton, before finishing up Sunday night in Oshawa.
While that means no getting in practice time, the busy weekend will help Wilmott quickly familiarize himself with his new teammates.
“It’s really fun to be part of this group,” said Wilmott, who joins a Barrie team looking to make some noise in the playoffs. “We’re looking to make a big run here, so I’m really looking forward to being part of this group, and I’m super excited.”
Little or no practice, no problem, says Smoskowitz.
“I told all three guys that you’re just going to go out and have fun this weekend,” he said. “Just give me effort, and I could care less about anything else. If you miss an assignment, if you miss a pass, and are a little bit confused, we have lots of practice time to work on that.
“This weekend, go enjoy your new teammates, go enjoy your new home, your new facility. We welcomed them with open arms to our family. They’re our new brothers to Barrie, and we couldn’t be happier to have them.”
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The Colts looked like they were going to run away with this one when Wilmott finished off a pretty setup by Beaudoin midway through the second.
The Barrie co-captain slid a perfect backhanded pass across the front of the net to Wilmott, who fired it past Guelph goaltender Collin Elsworth.
Only when he got to the rink, did Wilmott find out he would be playing on a line with Beaudoin and Hemming, both first-round NHL prospects.
“They’re super amazing players,” he said. “They made it really easy for me out there tonight, just helping me with the systems. They’re two amazing and very talented players, so it was really fun playing with them tonight.”
Guelph (18-19-2-1) made things interesting late in the second when Leo Serlin and Wil McFadden scored on Ben Hrebik 32 seconds apart to cut the lead to 5-3.
Barrie, though, held the Storm to eight shots and pretty much shut things down in the third to win for the ninth time in 12 games since the beginning of December.
“That’s the way we’re built,” Smoskowitz said of his team’s defence-first mentality. “I know we scored six tonight, but if we scored six, their number better be zero. We’d rather win games 1-0, so we had a good chat after the second period. We don’t want to get into these high-flying games. We don’t want to be a team that cheats for offence ever.
“We have a certain identity, a certain way of life that we abide by here with the Colts. The third period is more of a showing of what this team is all about. . . that’s our shutdown hard to play against style, and it was more evident in the third period.”
Even after an intense tournament against the top players in the world, there was no letdown from Beaudoin, Aitcheson and Hemming in their first game back.
All three were their dominant selves.
“That’s why this team has success, because guys like that are driving the bus,” said Smoskowitz. “These guys love to play. They love to play for Barrie. They love to play with their teammates, and they love to compete.”
Aitcheson, said the Colts’ head coach, was banged up from worlds, yet immediately jumped on the ice at practice. Beaudoin, also banged up from his impressive showing with Canada, was “begging” for more ice time.
Hemming returned from the world championships fighting the flu.
“He skated for the first time this morning, and I told him this morning, ‘Hem, you’re only 80 per cent, and I don’t want you to play,’” said Smoskowitz. “He said, ‘No coach, I’m playing.’
“This is why we have such a good culture here, because of these three guys. They lead the charge. . . It’s just fun to watch as a coach. It really is.”
Saturday’s game will mark the first time that Zebeski and von Richter will face their former teammates from Brampton. It will also mark the home debut for the trio of newest Colts.
“It’s a home game, and it’s our first game with some of the new guys in front of our home crowd,” said Smoskowitz. “We want to show our fans what we’re all about. We’re not a flashy team. We’re not a team that cheats. We want to give our fans a good showing.”
UP NEXT
The Colts return home Saturday to face Brampton, giving Von Richter and Zebeski a chance to play their former team less than a week since being traded.
Guelph takes on Peterborough Saturday on the road, less than a week after a shootout win against the Petes at home.
ICE CHIPS
Illia Shybinskyi had the other Guelph goal, tying it 1-1 early in the first period.
Guelph outshot Barrie 34-26.
The Colts were 0-for-1 on the power-play, while Guelph was 1-for-3.
Smoskowitz praised GM Marty Williamson for his work at the trade deadline, borrowing a quote from goalie coach Dave Belitski, who called Williamson “The Wizard.” “We identified these three players about a month-and-a-half ago, and there’s a reason the Barrie Colts have had so much success over the years, and that is because they have the best GM in the league,” he said. “He goes and gets the three guys we targeted, and we didn’t miss out on any of them. We got them all, and we couldn’t be happier with the team we built, and it all starts with Marty.”
Only Windsor (90), Ottawa (93), Kitchener (106) and Brantford (107) have given up fewer goals than Barrie (111) so far this season.
ADD. OHL
North Bay 5 Brampton 1
Flint 4 Saginaw 2
Kitchener 4 Oshawa 2
Brantford 4 London 1
Sarnia 9 Erie 1
Niagara 4 Sudbury 2
Sault Ste. Marie 2 Ottawa 1
