Wednesday was locker clean-out day for the Barrie Colts following a heartbreaking defeat in Game 7 the previous night in North Bay.
The Colts took local fans on a wild ride this season, but fell just short of a match-up with the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference final after a 3-1 loss to the North Bay Battalion on Tuesday.
Barrie players and team staff congregated at Sadlon Arena this afternoon to clean out their lockers and say their goodbye until next season ... or for good, as some will be moving on from their junior careers.
Colts defenceman Brandt Clarke, who was the team's captain, will now wait for a chance to get back up to the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings, who drafted him eighth overall in 2021. The 20-year-old was returned to his junior club in Barrie midway through the season after suiting up in nine in NHL games, where he picked up two assists.
After starring with Team Canada and winning gold at this year's world junior tournament, Clarke was stellar for the Colts in the second half of the OHL season. He scored 23 goals and added 38 assists for 61 points in just 31 regular-season games, and then also added 23 points (7G, 16A) in 12 playoff games.
Clarke is eligible to play for the Kings, who are heading into Game 6 of their first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
The Colts blue-liner says he hasn’t heard anything definitive on whether he'll join the big club, but says he would be ready if called upon.
“I’m just waiting to see what's going on. They’re heading to Game 6 and I’m not sure what the plan is. I haven’t heard anything,” Clarke said. “If I do get called upon to go out there, I will be happy to go. If not, I’ll just enjoy these next few days with my teammates before everyone heads their separate ways.”
As for Tuesday night’s loss to North Bay, Clarke says it was one that he wouldn’t get over for a while and that "it was definitely frustrating.”
Clarke was selected fourth overall by the Colts in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection and has been a steadying force with the club ever since.
“It's been great (here in Barrie). Ever since I walked into this building, I have been grateful to be a Barrie Colt and to be able to be the captain, too," he said. "It was just a phenomenal feeling to lead the guys in that dressing room. We’ve had so many great players and better people coming out of that dressing room.”
While Clarke has now finished his OHL career, Cole Beaudoin is just beginning his. The Colts' first-round pick in 2022 says he was upset about going home early from the playoffs, but knows he and the team will be ready for next season.
“I’m just getting a feel for the league, being that was my rookie year, but that was a real battle with North Bay," said the Kanata native, who just turned 17 on Monday. "It was a fun series, but it's unfortunate we came up short. But being on a team this good in my first year in the league was so exciting.”
Beaudoin says he was grateful for the veteran players who took him under their wing before they headed off to pro careers or elsewhere.
“I’m very thankful that I got to learn from guys like Clarke, (Ethan) Cardwell, (Evan) Vierling and a handful of others," he said. "I’ll take the things they taught me into my career in the OHL and hopefully be able to hand down that knowledge to others one day."
Left-winger Jacob Frasca, who is expected to return as an overager (OA) next season, spoke while loading his hockey gear into his car after a long season.
“It's amazing playing for this team," said the 19-year-old Caledon native. "I got drafted here, played four years here and lived here. It's like a second home. Thinking about it today, I felt like I was a 16-year-old rookie and now I’ll be an OA next season. Time sure does fly.”
While things didn’t go the way the team wanted, Frasca says the Colts will be back.
“We ran into injury trouble, which was unfortunate, but I had a lot of fun with these guys,” said Frasca, who had a breakout year offensively with 27 goals and 42 assists in 68 games. “It will be a different team next year. Some guys are leaving, but hopefully we'll be as fun to watch as we were this season.
"The fans deserve that, they’ve been so great.”
