A look into life after aging out of junior hockey.
Life does not end in the Ontario League at age 19.
For some, in fact, playing as a 20-year-old overage is only the beginning. Players and coaches are realizing the road to professional hockey is not necessarily closed to overagers.
“When I decided to play overage, I looked back the year before and saw how it helped (goalie) Steve Guenette and (right winger) Paul Brydges when they were in Guelph,” said Milwaukee Admiral goalie Sean Evoy, a Hartford Whaler farmhand who played for Oshawa last year and is making his pro debut in the International League.
Guenette and Brydges signed contracts with Pittsburgh and Buffalo, respectively, after their overage years, Evoy signed with Hartford last summer after being picked in the 10th round of the 1986 entry draft.
“I realized playing as an overage was not adead-end street,” Evoy said. “I look around at the other guys who played overage last season and a lot are doing well in the pros.”
Evoy was doing reasonably well himself until Feb. 10, when he broke a bone in his right foot while stopping a shot during practice. In 17 games to that point, Evoy had a 7-8-1 record, 4.57 goals-against average and. 872 save percentage. He’s expected to return to action March 15.
The OHL raised its complement of overage players from one to two per team for the 1985-86 season.
Last season, every OHL entry but Sault Ste. Marie used the maximum. The Greyhounds didn’t use any. Eight of those 28 players are now skating in either the IHL or American League.
In the IHL are former Belleville Bull right winger Todd Hawkins (7-11-18 in 42 games) and center Mario Chitaroni (33-39-72 in 60 games) of Flint, ex-London left winger Jean-Marc Mackenzie (10-15-25 in 37 games) and Evoy of Milwaukee, and former Bull goalie Alan Perry (5-6-0, 3.80 GAA., 894 save percentage) of Peoria.
American League rookies who were standouts as OHL overagers last season include Binghamton center Mike Richard (Toronto), Adirondack left winger Kris King (Peterborough) and Hershey left winger Nick Kypreos (North Bay.) Richard (38-39-77 in 58 games) has been leading the AHL Whalers in scoring, while King (1827-45 in 61 games) and Kypreos (2117-38 in 57 games) are also having productive seasons.
Ten of the league’s 15 teams are using the maximum two overage players this season. The Kitchener Rangers are the only team without a senior citizen on their roster.
North Bay Centennial center Len Soccio (49-68-117 in 59 games), Cornwall Royal right winger Larry Mitchell (46-59-105 in 61 games), and Ottawa 67 center David Rowbotham (34-69-103 in 58 games) were third, fifth, and sixth, respectively, in the OHL scoring race.
London Knight right winger Ron Goodall of the London Knights had 50 goals and 96 points. Ottawa’s Frank DiMuzio (45-33-78 in 41 games) has also been scoring at a prolific pace.
Windsor Spitfire overage goalie Pat Jablonski was 11-2 with a 2.71 GAA and league-leading. 905 save percentage since returning from Peoria.
KINGSTON KEEPS LOSING
Kingston’s losing streak reached 24 when the Canadians lost 8-2 March 6 at Oshawa. The league record of 25 straight defeats was set by the 1982-83 Guelph Platers. Kingston, 14-48-0 as of March 7, had four games left on its regular-season schedule.
The Canadians weren’t just losing games. They lost their coach, Jacques Tremblay, who cleaned out his office and left after a 9-5 loss to Peterborough March 4. Former NHL and WHA defenseman Jim Dorey, a Kingston resident, coached the team in Oshawa and was expected to handle the club for the remainder of the 1987-88 season.