SPIIRT ACQUIRES VETERAN DEFENCEMAN FROM PICKERING
The Stouffville Spirit has acquired veteran Ontario Junior Hockey League defenceman Matthew Altomare to complete a deal with their North Division rivals, the Pickering Panthers.
The 6-foot, 185-pound Altomare played for his hometown Panthers the past two seasons. He had 25 points and 91 penalty minutes in 95 games.
Now 19, he was with the Panthers as an affiliate from the Ajax Pickering Raiders U18 team the previous two years.
“Ken (Burrows, Spirit general manager) and I identified Matthew as a player we wanted out of midget but he chose to stay in his home organization,” said Spirit assistant general manager Thayne Hallyburton. “He's big and strong and has a mean streak but can really get the puck going north, which is what we like about him. And he has good feet on top of that.”
Alromare was an eighth-round selection of the Mississauga Steelheads in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection.
The Spirit was scheduled to play Pickering for the 2020 North Division championship when the OJHL was shut down by COVID-19 in March.
The OJHL is awaiting approval from the Ontario Hockey Federation and the provincial government to begin the 2020-21 season.
