The Ontario Hockey League's Barrie Colts have named a new team captain.
It was announced Saturday evening that forward Beau Jelsma would be wearing the 'C' for the team. He joins a long list of players by becoming the 25th captain in Colts history, a list which includes Brandt Clarke, Sheldon Keefe, Bryan Little, Aaron Ekblad and others.
Now in his third season in Barrie, the 19-year-old is leading the team in scoring this season with a point-a-game pace. Jelsma has 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 37 games.
A native of Brownsville, Ont.,, which is in the London area, Jelsma has played in 172 regular-season games with the Colts, collecting 73 goals and 72 assists for 145 points. In nine games during last year's playoff run, he also had five goals and six helpers in nine games.
In his first game as team captain last night, Jelsma had an assist on Cole Beaudoin's power-play goal in the second period, as the Colts dropped a 4-3 decision to the Brantford Bulldogs at Sadlon Arena. Barrie (15-21-1) sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 31 points, four points back of the eighth-place Peterborough Petes but with two games in hand.
Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson said Jelsma has "embraced what it meant to be a Barrie Colt" since joining the organization in 2020.
"He’s a player I always know will give us his best possible effort and play the game hard," Williamson said on the team's website. "Beau is always making time for kids around the rink at our games and is always giving his time for school visits and the 'Beau’s Buddies' program. We are proud to have Beau lead our group as coaches.”
Jelsma was selected by the Colts in the third round (55th overall) of the 2020 OHL Priority Selection.
He has since attended Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes development camps.
The move was required after the team traded veteran and former captain Connor Punnett to the Oshawa Generals on Jan. 9. Punnett had been the Colts' captain since the start of the season.
