Ontario Junior Hockey League resident reporter Ron Valentine is profiling the 2019-20 team captains of The OJ.

BY RON VALENTINE

The name Shanahan is synonymous with hockey and lacrosse.

Newly-named Mississauga Chargers' captain DEVLIN SHANAHAN plays both sports – like his uncle, Hockey Hall of Famer and Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan.

Devlin began his junior hockey career with the St. Michael's Buzzers in the 2016-17 season and moved to the Chargers in 2018-19.

He has played Junior A lacrosse for the Mimico Mountaineers for four years with the NLL's Buffalo Bandits. A left winger for the Chargers, Devlin is a goalkeeper in lacrosse.

He is backed up by assistant captains: sophomore Luca Teles;  ex-North York Rangers' Daniil Kuzmin (named to the S/E OJHL All-Star team); Hamilton native rookie Owen McGowan and another ex-Ranger Matteo Pecchia.

Devlin has been a captain in both sports before but it was "a while ago.” He likes to set the tone for the Chargers with physical play as a power forward.

In his last season at the Junior level, Devlin is looked at by the younger players on the team as a leader and that's what he tries to be. "We have some great rookies on this team,” he notes. "At training camp, I was impressed right away by Matthew Sop. He's just 16 and is a special player, very talented and he works really hard at practice. I expect him to get even better as the season goes along. Chase Strychaluk has come to us from Junior B (the Komoka Kings), he's 17 and a big body who controls the puck and has already scored some clutch goals for us."

"We are lucky to have two top goalies, one veteran and one league rookie. Jack Irvine came to us from two big seasons with Aurora (and was named alternate on the S/W All-Star team) and Frank Boal played Junior B hockey last season (with Brantford) and we trust both guys who are always in friendly competition to start. And my old teammate with the Buzzers, Francesco Reda, has been big on defence for us."

"I look forward to making the playoffs this time around with the Chargers and I'm committed to the team. To get there we have to play controlled physical hockey, pick our moments and bring our best to the rink every game. It's going to be fun the rest of the way. We are focused." 

The two-sport schedule came into play before the captain was named.

Head Coach Joe Washkurak: "We actually waited to see how much he was going to miss and as it was only a few games, so for me it was a good choice."

Follow Ron Valentine on Twitter @ronandlynda

Photo by Timothy Bates / OJHL Images