At 103 years old, Marion Clute still doesn’t miss a game.
She tunes in regularly to watch the Saginaw Spirit, and as her grandson Dave Drinkill candidly admits, “She watches a lot of Barrie games, too. I’m not going to lie.”
For Drinkill, the General Manager of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, hockey conversations with his grandmother are a treasured constant. But nothing compares to the moment he brought the historic Memorial Cup to show her. Back in the 1950s, Clute’s family served as a billet house for the Barrie Flyers during their championship era.
“She was pointing out names on the trophy of people she knew, and boys that stayed at her parents’ house,” Drinkill recalled. “There’s a full circle moment for my family and my grandmother, that now her grandson won the same trophy as people that she used to house when they played junior hockey. It’s such a unique thing. A very special moment that my grandma and I shared together. I’ll always remember that.”
That full-circle journey reaches another remarkable milestone on Friday, September 25, when Drinkill is officially inducted into the Springwater Sports Heritage Hall of Fame in the Builders’ category during the Banquet of Champions at the Barrie Country Club.
Drinkill’s lifelong connection to the sport began in local arenas as an Elmvale native. A talented goaltender, he anchored the Elmvale Guardian Drugs Midgets to back-to-back OMHA Championships in 1999 and 2000. However, his true calling lay in executive leadership. After completing the Sports Administration Program at Laurentian University in Sudbury, he returned home with a single-minded goal: to run an OHL franchise.
His administrative journey started humbly when he reached out to the Barrie Colts, offering to volunteer.
“I owe the Barrie Colts a ton for allowing me to start my career there,” Drinkill said.
Mentors like Marty Williamson, Jason Ford, Dale Hawerchuk, Howie Campbell, and OHL Director of Hockey Development Darrell Woodley took him under their wings, teaching him the nuances of scouting and operations.
“I started as a volunteer and worked my way up in different roles... The respect factor and the care factor you have from everybody who is an usher to the president of the team and the owner of the team... they all deserve the respect and the accolades.”
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After nine years in Barrie learning the ropes, a life-changing opportunity arose in 2015. Saginaw Spirit owners Dick Garber and Craig Goslin took a chance on the 32-year-old assistant GM, handing him the keys to the franchise. Over 12 seasons in Saginaw, Drinkill transformed the organization into a powerhouse.
His tenure in Saginaw has led to three West Division titles (2019, 2020, 2024), two Western Conference Finals appearances (2019, 2024), and a Memorial Cup Championship in 2024.
The pinnacle arrived in 2024 when Saginaw hosted and won the Memorial Cup in a storybook finish against the rival London Knights, scoring late in front of a sold-out home crowd.
“Ever since I was a young boy, growing up in Canada, like everybody, the Memorial Cup is such a driven prize that you want to try to get to,” Drinkill reflected. “I spent my whole life wanting to win it, and as soon as I won it, I put it over my head. The best part was handing it off, and as soon as I handed it off, my immediate reaction was, how am I going to win that again? On the ice, that’s what I thought.”
Drinkill is grateful for the opportunity given to him by Saginaw owners Dick Garber and Craig Goslin, and the trust they have shown in allowing a young hockey mind to help build their organization.
His Spirit teams have now produced 28 NHL-drafted players. Saginaw is now a desired location for many young hockey prospects to develop.
“It always drove me to be better, to be the best, to push to the top, and I really want to transform the organization into an elite one in the CHL,” Drinkill said. “I believe we’re there now, but just because you’re at the top and talked about as a great organization, you don’t want to let your foot off the gas. You’ve got to keep pushing. Everybody’s trying to catch up to you, and I want to make sure we’re still providing these young men the opportunity to play in the NHL and giving them the best experience possible in junior hockey.
“It never would have happened without the ownership group of Saginaw giving me that opportunity as a young GM, and I’m forever thankful.”
Drinkill has continued to build on that drive, leading Team Canada Red to a U17 World Challenge Gold Medal in 2026. Yet, despite 21 years in the OHL and building a life in Saginaw, his heart remains tied to where it all began.
“I’m extremely proud of where I came from, where I was born and raised,” he said of his upcoming induction alongside fellow 2026 builders George Allen and Kathleen McCarroll. “I’m just really thankful and humbled, and it’s just such a very unique thing that I couldn’t be prouder of.”
