NEWS

Wellington Dukes defenceman Kyle Paat (photo credit - Tim Bates/OJHL Images) has confirmed his commitment to join the Keyano College Huskies beginning with the 2014-15 ACAC season.

The Echo Bay, Ontario native is a four year OJHL veteran after having kicked-off his Junior 'A' career as a member of the NOJHL's Blind River Beavers in 2009-10.  The following year, Paat made the jump to the OJHL as a member of the Huntsville Otters, helping the club during their run as the 2011 Dudley-Hewitt Cup host that saw them fall in the championship game to the Wellington Dukes.  The Dukes obviously saw something that they liked, as they picked up Paat early into the 2011-12 season and he would spend the next three seasons patrolling their blueline.

During his three year tenure in Wellington, Paat would record 79 points in 153 regular season contests, as well as another 3 points in 15 playoff games.  The 2012-13 season saw Paat represent the OJHL East Division All-Star Team, helping them win the Central Canada Cup All-Star Challenge in front of his hometown crowd.  This past year, he set career-highs with 6 goals, 31 assists and 37 points, to not only lead the Dukes defensive corps, but also finish eighth among all OJHL defenders in both assists and points.

"Kyle is a player who we will really miss,"  commented Dukes General Manager and Head Coach Marty Abrams.  "For the past three seasons we have relied on him to play huge minutes game in and game out.  He amazingly only missed one game in that time which speaks volumes about his dedication to our organization.  I wish Kyle all the best moving forward.  We are also pleased to see that all six of our 20-year old players have advanced to the next level, each furthering their athletic and academic careers.  Our organization is very proud of all of them."

Congratulations to Kyle on his commitment and best of luck!