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Former Colts captain Jason Willms missed out on potential OHL iron-man record

Impressive streak of 264 straight OHL regular-season games just eight shy of record held by Bobby Chaumont
2019-01-24 Colts Bulldogs RB 5
Jason Willms is shown in a file photo from his days with the Barrie Colts. Raymond Bowe/BarrieToday

The end of the Ontario Hockey League season couldn't have been any more abrupt. 

But even though the ironman destination couldn't be reached — on a technicality — it is the journey that's made Kitchener native and former Barrie Colts captain Jason Willms into the hockey player he is today, and the lessons learned will help shape him into the hockey player he wants to be.

For Willms, who was traded to the London Knights in January, his OHL career came to an end this week when the Canadian Hockey League announced the playoffs and 2020 Memorial Cup would be cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.

It also marked the end of his impressive ironman streak of 264 straight OHL regular-season games played, coming just eight games shy of the record of 272 straight held by Bobby Chaumont, who played in Sudbury in the early 2000s.

For his OHL career, Willms accumulated 82 goals and 181 points in those 264 contests.

But Willms does join Chaumont in that elite category of never missing a game in their time in major junior.

"A lot of treatment before and after," he said about his longevity, "My trainer in Barrie, Jimmy McKnight, as well as here in London Doug (Stacey), has done an excellent job preparing me for games. 

"At the start of my career, I never could've imagined playing in as many games in a row as I have, but I've been pretty lucky to be injury-free, and suspension-wise, too," Willms added. 

And when it's not those guys during the season, Willms says he does his summer training with Kitchener Rangers director of sports science and development coach Brandon Merli.

"It's an all-year-round thing nowadays," Willms said, "I think for me at the end of the year, I really like to work on regaining strength, especially when you go on long playoff runs, your body gets pretty beat up and it could be easy to lose some muscle mass.

"My first couple months of the summer, I always really focus on regaining that strength and everything, and the last couple months (is) when you amp up the on-ice type training," he added. "I've been lucky, so far, that I kind of found what works for me, and what works best for my body, and that's kind of what I've gone with."

Offensively, Willms has shown he can produce, even in his days with the Kitchener Jr. Rangers, playing at a point-per-game pace.

The Colts drafted him in the third round of the 2015 OHL Priority Selection, and he took his talents to the Kitchener Dutchmen (GOJHL) in 2015-16, where he netted 23 goals and 42 points in 50 games.

When he moved to Barrie, he excelled and improved his game, popping 13 goals in his rookie campaign and 27 a year later.

In 2018-19, the Colts named Willms their captain, a distinction held until he was dealt to London just before the trade deadline.

"Obviously growing up in Kitchener and heading to The Aud (Kitchener Memorial Auditorium) on Friday nights, it's kind of a cool feeling to be on the cross 401 rivalry," Willms said. "When I first got traded, there was obviously a lot of excitement to go to a contending team, a team with as good of a past record as the Knights."

He helped the Knights to a Midwest Division title and the top seed in the Western Conference.

The goal now for Willms is to land a professional contract, and he believes he has the tools to step up his game in the fall.

"I like to think I'm a two-way, 200-foot type player, someone whose strong on the faceoff dot and also somebody who can contribute offensively," he said.

"For me, when the trade (to London) happened, I knew that one of my responsibilities here was going to be reliable in the D-zone, being the guy who can go up against other teams' top lines and shut them down, and also contribute offensively.

"I like to think I can contribute in all areas."