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PLAYING FIELD: Barrie minor hockey teammates could face off in OHL playoffs

Mitchell Weeks, Tyson Foerster, James Hardie, Mitchell Russell and Alec Belanger all graduates of Barrie's 'AAA' program
2022-01-20 Mitchell Weeks RL 2
Barrie native Mitchell Weeks as a member of the Sudbury Wolves.

Two of the 'AAA' Barrie Colts' most impressive alums opposed each other at Sadlon Arena this week.

Tyson Foerster made his return to Barrie in a game that featured the Colts hosting the Sudbury Wolves, who had local product Mitchell Weeks in goal.

In the end, Foerster scored and Weeks made 39 saves in a losing cause as the Colts won 2-1.

Weeks and Foerster are two of six notable local 'AAA' grads born in either 2001 or 2002. Five are playing in the Ontario Hockey League, the other in the American Hockey League.

Among Weeks’s 2001-born group are Mitchell Russell of the North Bay Battalion and Rockford IceHogs defenceman Isaak Phillips, who played with Weeks in Sudbury.

Before embarking on their OHL careers, Weeks, Russell and Phillips teamed up to win an Ontario Minor Hockey Association championship. It was just the second time a 'AAA' Colts team has won an OMHA crown in the past two decades.

Born a year later, Foerster’s former 'AAA' Colts teammates who are still playing in the OHL include James Hardie of the Mississauga Steelheads and Alec Belanger of the Kingston Frontenacs.

It’s almost a certainty that at least two players from that group of five Colts 'AAA' grads will face one another in the OHL playoffs when they start in a few weeks. Moreover, at least one match-up will involve Foerster's Colts facing either Hardie’s Steelheads, Russell’s Battalion or Belanger’s Frontenacs.

Two years ago, Phillips was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks (fifth round, 141st overall). Players in that slot often don’t sign NHL contracts. But Phillips was signed by the Hawks soon after and has flourished playing for Rockford. He had a four-game cameo with Chicago before Christmas and could soon develop into an NHL regular; impressive stuff for a kid who was no guarantee to even play in the OHL.

Weeks has been written about in the space before and it’s looking increasingly likely his OHL career will end without a playoff appearance this spring. It’s not Weeks's fault, he’s been a rock for the Wolves all season.

It’s always more difficult for goaltenders in pro hockey. There’s simply not that many spots for puck-stoppers as skaters, but Weeks has proven people wrong in the past.

Russell, like Hardie in Mississauga, continues to fill the net playing for North Bay. As of this writing, he has 38 goals, Hardie has 35.

It’s difficult to handicap the OHL‘s Eastern Conference, but both the Battalion and Steelheads could put together a run. How far exactly could depend on how much Russell and Hardie continue to score for their respective clubs. Or how much Foerster can in his return to Barrie to help get the Colts over the hump.

Foerster’s return is a bonus for Marty Williamson’s team. He has had injury troubles since turning pro last year after the Philadelphia Flyers made him their first-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft. He had shoulder surgery and has missed almost five months, costing him an opportunity to play for Canada at the world juniors. It remains to be seen if Team Canada and the Flyers want him to go to the summer selection camp for that delayed tournament in August.

Team Canada head James Boyd, a Penetanguishene native with significant local connections, made it clear that Foerster would have been a big part of his team over the holidays had he not been been injured.

However, the post-season match-ups shake out, frankly, not enough local kids end up playing for their home OHL teams, be it here, or league-wide.

The career arc for Weeks, Russell, Hardie, Belanger and Foerster is quite an accomplishment for the local minor hockey community: a group of talented young men who cut their minor hockey teeth in Barrie around the same time. A few may be on the cusp of bigger and better things in the pro game. Like Phillips is doing now.

But first, they may have to get past each other as their OHL careers wind down.


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Peter Robinson

About the Author: Peter Robinson

Barrie's Peter Robinson is a sports columnist for BarrieToday. He is the author of Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto, his take on living with the disease of being a Leafs fan.
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