Hockey / BELOW THE C’S: OAKVILLE CAPTAIN LIKES HIS BLADES’ CHANCES

BELOW THE C’S: OAKVILLE CAPTAIN LIKES HIS BLADES’ CHANCES

Date:  Source: Ontario Junior A Hockey League

The first in a series of stories on the team captains in the Ontario Junior Hockey League during the 2017-18 season:

By Ron Valentine

The resort town of Blackpool, England seems like an unusual birthplace for an OJHLer but that's where OAKVILLE BLADES captain and defenceman BAILEY NEWTON (Photo by Shawn Muir / OJHL Images) spent the first three years of his life.

After beginning his junior hockey career with the Smiths Falls Bears in the CCHL, he was moved to the Blades partway through last season. He has quickly adapted to the OJHL and to Oakville with his enthusiasm on and off the ice.

Bailey is very excited about this year's edition of the Blades noting that his assistant captains Matt Kellenberger, Jeff Clarke (both members of Team Canada East at the World Jr. A. Challenge), Jack Ricketts and Peyton Reeves have been very supportive. He feels that the team spirit and closeness on the club is the best he has seen in his career. The whole club, he says, works very well as a unit under the expert guidance of the coaching staff.

A couple of new faces, among many he could mention, are proving to be key players this season, he notes: Spencer Kersten, who played in the GOJHL last season and is already committed to Princeton, and Trevor LeDonne, who also moved over from the GOJHL. Both are 17 years old.

He sees nothing to stop the Blades from going “all the way” this season. They are a “hungry” club, he says. His personal hockey aspirations are to go either the NCAA or U Sports route and his eye-catching style on the blueline will help him get there.