Watching hockey in August: It both breaks your heart and cheers you up at the same time, a sure sign that hockey’s back, but summer will soon be over.
That took place on Thursday when the Barrie Colts held their end-of-training-camp intrasquad game just a few hours before the calendar flipped to September.
On Monday night, the Colts will hold their traditional Labour Day exhibition opener against the Owen Sound Attack at Sadlon Arena. Game time is 6 p.m.
Colts second-year forward Cole Beaudoin has had quite a summer. He helped Canada win gold at the Hlinka-Gretzky U18 championship in Czechia last month, the first glimpse at what could lie in store for the Ottawa-area native this season in Barrie.
Beaudoin was the Colts' first pick (10th overall) in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection. Playing on an older team that had several NHL-drafted players, he had to earn every minute of ice time.
“Our team was really experienced — I just played the role I was given,” he said. “... I thought I did it really well and was happy for what the coaching staff gave to me.”
Beaudoin started slow, grew more comfortable and was eventually taking a regular shift by the time the Ontario Hockey League playoffs started. He did fine, without lighting it up, nor necessarily serving notice that great things were expected this season.
Those expectations may now have shifted. Beaudoin ended the summer tournament in Europe as one of Canada’s most effective forwards. He notched three goals and three assists in five games and was often on the ice against the other team’s best players.
Beaudoin is the middle son of Eric Beaudoin, who had a long pro career in Europe after playing 53 games with the NHL's Florida Panthers two decades ago. A member of the 1998 OHL champion Guelph Storm, Eric Beaudoin pointed out during a brief chat on Thursday night that his son met every challenge presented to him last season as a 16-year-old, often in tough circumstances.
Cole’s skating is still something of a work in progress, but getting better. He seems destined to be a cornerstone player for Barrie coach/GM Marty Williamson for the next three seasons.
Young Beaudoin came home from Europe and put the finishing touches on a fruitful summer in the gym. He also blew away the competition in Colts fitness testing, winning both the run and bench-press competitions, two seemingly divergent categories.
The six-foot-two, 210-pound centre is still a kid – he doesn’t turn 18 until April – but he’s now got a man’s body. How effectively he learns to use it and continues to improve his foot speed and agility will go a long way to determine how early he hears his name next summer in Las Vegas at the 2024 NHL Draft.
“That’s what he’s always wanted,” Eric said when asked generally about his son’s draft prospects. “He just really wants to (be a hockey player). All he does is work — when his friends are out on a Friday night, he’s at home, resting for the next day’s (work).”
Says Cole: “I’ve been training my whole life for this,” which incidentally began in Europe while his father was still playing until moving back to Canada's capital region around his 12th birthday. “It’s my dream to be there with my family, to pull on a jersey.
"I think I can accomplish it. I just need to keep working and keeping doing good things and work hard and those good things will come.”
Beaudoin is perhaps the biggest name to watch assume a bigger role on the Colts this season. He could end up playing with Eduard Sale, the Czech forward who is expected to report to Barrie on Tuesday.
The Seattle Kraken first-rounder (20th overall in 2023) will fill some of the scoring lost with the graduation of overagers Ethan Cardwell, Declan McDonnell and Evan Vierling, who combined for 228 points last season in Barrie.
The Colts have added two other 2006-born forwards, Riley Patterson and Bode Stewart, who are both expected to step right into a lineup that will be much younger than the one Beaudoin had to crack a year ago.
Like Beaudoin, Patterson is expected to poke his way into the 2024 NHL Draft picture as well.
Other newcomers to watch on Monday night include Jack Brauti, a 2006-born defenceman who impressed from the outset of training camp and was signed last week.
Brauti played with returning defenceman Beau Akey during the intrasquad game.
Colts 2023 first-rounder Shamar Moses took a hard knock on Thursday night and missed some action, but appeared none worse the wear after the game.
Akey, by the way, looks refreshed and ready to go after a summer that saw him picked by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round (56th overall). Veteran forward Beau Jelsma also looked energized and was buzzing all night.
The Attack come to town with local product Jake Crawford expected to be in the lineup. The 2007-born forward was Owen Sound’s second-round pick (33rd overall) in the spring.
“We are really excited to get him,” Attack GM Dale McGray said soon after the selection. “We want to get him here, make him comfortable and see what he can do for us this year and beyond.”
The Attack will also have a local face behind the bench. Barrie native Darren Rumble is serving as one of the assistants under head coach Greg Walters this season.
Rumble, a retired pro who played almost 200 NHL games with four different teams, has extensive coaching experience in the American Hockey League and Canada’s two other major junior loops, but his current gig with the Attack is his first full-time OHL position.
