OHL Teams React To Chatham-Kent Draft Products
Brady Pataki of the Chatham-Kent Cyclones – Photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images
In particular, three Chatham-Kent Cyclones players, Brady Pataki, Levi Tetrault, and Joseph Raaymakers, who will all represent the Alliance at the upcoming OHL Gold Cup, were receiving rave reviews from their new teams.
“He would be considered a power forward who is very strong physically and is very competitive,” said Sudbury Wolves head scout Andrew Shaw in a Wolves’ news release. “Brady excelled down the stretch and in the playoffs for the Cyclones and is a very hard player to play against because of the way he competes. Pataki will definitely add size and competitiveness to our team,” he added about the Wallaceburg resident.
In Guelph, general manager Mike Kelly, who invited Levi Tetrault to a jersey presentation, and to tour the Storm’s facilities only hours after the team selected him, had a lot to say about the Pain Court resident.
“I was actually a little disappointed they made it to the OHL Cup,” Kelly said about the Chatham-Kent Cyclones’ run to the OHL Cup, which exposed Tetrault to other OHL scouts, a player they’d coveted all season. “We thought we had him hidden away a bit. That team got better and better and he got more recognition, and rightfully so. He reminds me of Matt Finn in terms of his playing style. That might be a little lofty, given Matt was a first round pick, but there’s similarities given they both play a high percentage game.”
Finn is finishing his fourth season with the Guelph Storm, and was a second round selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs, 35th overall in 2012, making the comparison quite the compliment for Tetrault.
Finally, Joseph Raaymakers, who received the lions share of attention from OHL scouts over the 2013-2014 season in terms of Chatham-Kent prospects, received praise on the Soo Greyhounds website, the team that drafted him in the second round, 37th overall.
“With Matthew Murray graduating we wanted to key in on getting 2 elite goaltenders to grow together and challenge Brandon Halverson and Adrian Clark, who we drafted last season. Joseph is a very quick, agile young goaltender with excellent athleticism. He excelled throughout the season but most notably in the Alliance playoffs, OHL Cup, and OHL Combine.”
Other locals, including Brendan Harrogate, Brock Philips, Nolan Gardiner, and Anthony Hurtubise were also selected last week in the OHL Draft.