Plundering the Coyotes

It should come as no surprise that Jerome Dupont and Mark Jooris, the general managers of the Buckland Cup champion Trenton Golden Hawks and the OHA Coach of the Year at the junior level, respectively, were paying attention to the 2015-16 Richmond Hill Coyotes AAA midgets. Of course, being ranked No. 1 in Ontario will do that, and although the club slipped up at the OMHAs, and had to watch a North York Rangers team that many of the Coyotes were familiar with lift the Telus Cup in New Brunswick a month later, it was still a remarkable year for head coach Kevin Ryan and company.

In order to accomplish that sort of notoriety at the midget level, a club has to be flush with junior ready - or almost ready - talent, and this group was no different, and this off-season, Richmond Hill's ranks are being plundered at an incredible rate. According to the team's twitter account, 11 players from the squad, comprising 1998 and 1999-birth year players, have moved on to juniors, and look to make an instant impact, especially on the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

The 2013-14 York Simcoe Express minor midgets certainly deserve a shoutout along these same lines (the group that spawned recent Colorado Avalanche second rounder Cameron Morrison), with the pick of the Coyotes litter coming out of there. The group of YSE minor midgets/Coyotes midgets includes new Burlington Cougar Andrew Badali, a mature and fleet-footed winger, as well new Trenton Golden Hawks Cole Thiessen, a smooth skating, point-producing machine from the back end, and the dynamically skillful Dante Spagnuolo.

Joining Badali on the Cougars is Darius Dimitriadis, a great passer with a solid frame, while sniper Conor Smart will look to fill one of the holes left in the high-powered offence of the Oakville Blades. Vinny Boniauto, a speedster that played on a very good Toronto Titans minor midget team two years ago, will join new head coach Justin Teakle on the Orangeville Flyers. 

I am not privy to the other signings at the moment, though I'm sure whoever runs the Coyotes' fine twitter account will divulge that information soon enough. Nevertheless, the young men about to break into the OJHL out of Richmond Hill, as well as their excellent, athletic goaltender Ryan Franz, who is set to join Kanata of the Central Canadian Hockey League, are all fine individuals who I have seen play many times. 

They will make their marks on the OJ before long.