NEWS

Ontario Junior Hockey League resident reporter Ron Valentine is profiling the team captains of The OJ this fall.

BY RON VALENTINE

Two players finished ahead of DANTE SPAGNUOLO (Photo by Andy Corneau / OJHL Images) in the Ontario Junior Hockey League scoring race last season.

One was teammate Anthony Petrucci and the other was the Aurora Tigers' Jake Bricknell. Both have graduated the junior ranks for collegiate hockey.

Dante accumulated 23 goals and 89 points last season. He says it would be a great accomplishment for him to top the charts in his last junior campaign but his major concern now is to help the TORONTO PATRIOTS repeat last season's success and hopefully get one step further. He is the team captain for this term.

Dante, who turns 20 today, played minor hockey in the York-Simcoe Express and Richmond Hill Coyotes organizations. The Newmarket resident played eight games total with the Aurora Tigers and Trenton Golden Hawks before joining the Patriots in the fall of 2016.

He stresses he still has to work on the finer points of his game – faceoffs as an example – as he will be attending Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA, and playing for the Lakers in the NCAA next fall.

Head coach Mark Joslin called him up before training camp to notify him and he was pleased to accept the C.

Joslin who was GM last year will now be GM/Head Coach replacing John Dean who is now Head Coach of the Soo Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League. It should be a seamless transition, says Dante.

The Patriots also lost several veteran players to graduation from their OJHL regular-season championship team, but the captain is confident that the returnees will be productive with more ice time and he likes the look of the rookies in camp.

Somewhat reluctantly, he singled out a couple of returnees in Jackson Alexeev (21 points last season), who Dante notes really “dialed up” his game in the preseason, and Evan Benwell (30). Both are poised for breakthrough campaigns, he feels.

In net, Owen Liskiewicz (2.10 GAA last season for the Patriots) will be back for his final junior season and will get to see much more work.

He looks forward to playing in the new South/East Conference and making the trips to play Trenton and Wellington as examples, but he notes that the games against opponents in their South Division will all be monsters for the club.

The Patriots have six road games to begin their regular season, starting Saturday night in Oakville. Their home opener is on Sept. 29 against the St. Michael’s Buzzers.

Dante feels he will be a little more vocal in the room this season than before and relishes setting the pace with his on-ice efforts. He is looking forward to working with the rookies and new arrivals to get them into the “Patriot Philosophy”. Early signs are everyone has adapted to and bought into the system and although it will be tough to follow the exceptional season the club had in 2017-2018.

It would be a fitting end to Dante's junior career to be the points champ and lead the team to at least the Dudley-Hewitt Cup.

Follow Ron Valentine on Twitter @ronandlynda