Crazy for the Colts
Posted By RAYMOND BOWE
Updated 5 months ago
Mark Wanzel photoColts fan Damien Allen is thrilled his team is ranked the number one team in all of Canada heading into the playoffs. Mar/16/10
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As Canada's top-ranked junior team heading into the post-season, people are jumping on the Barrie Colts bandwagon. But the team is also capitalizing on fan support south of the border.
Emily Bennett is a Washington Capitals fanatic and weekly blogger about the team's prospects and farm system, but she has never seen a Colts game live or online.
But she has been follow
ing the Barrie club closely this season, specifically captain Stefan Della Rovere, who was selected by the Caps in the seventh round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. She even refers to the gritty power forward by his nicknames: Delly and SDR.
"We are all wild about Delly," the 41-year-old Washington resident toldThe Barrie Examiner."My direct knowledge of SDR is limited to a few scraps of video and whatever I find on Google News, (but) clearly Delly's team either follows his leadership or, more likely, responds to that inner core that true leaders all seem to have."
The Ontario Hockey League playoffs begin Thursday, with the Colts hosting their bitter rivals, the Sudbury Wolves, at the Barrie Molson Centre.
As of Wednesday afternoon, team officials said neither Game 1, nor Game 3 on Sunday in Barrie, had yet sold out, although tickets were selling quickly.
Della Rovere, a two-time world junior with Team Canada who finished the season with 18 goals and 125 penalty minutes, can put the puck in the net, but also likes to muck it up when duty calls.
"Surely the team knows Delly has their back and his gloves off," Bennett said. "And I'm wondering if (all-star defenceman Alex) Pietrangelo scrapped as much before he came to the Colts and started sharing a billet with Stefan."
Bennett says she was a "longtime casual hockey fan" who turned into a diehard with the arrival of Alex Ovechkin in the American capital a few seasons ago. She reads all the news reports and game sheets she can get her hands on, whether they originate in Sweden or Quebec.
Della Rovere seemed surprised that fans of the team that holds his NHL rights would be following his junior career so intently.
"For the fan club to look at prospects like that is unbelievable, whether it's Sweden or Canada," he said Tuesday before practice at the Barrie Molson Centre. "It's a great organization to be a part of. It shows the fan support Washington has."
The Colts finished the regular season with the second-best record (57-9-0-2) in league history, bested by only the 2004-05 London Knights that went on to win the Memorial Cup that season.
Della Rovere, a 20-year-old Maple native, realizes it was a dream season, but he's not living in wonderland.
"This is a whole new journey," Della Rovere said of the upcoming playoffs. "The regular season was great to be a part of, but we have to put that behind us, because there are a lot of teams out to get you. Teams are going to bring their 'A' game."
Bennett is eager to see how the Colts can translate their game in the post-season.
"I have found that writing the farm report is very rewarding and it has been fun for me to watch all our boys work their way into the playoffs," said Bennett, who believes the Colts' "biggest obstacle" towards winning the national junior championship will be the Calgary Hitmen, featuring centre-man Joel Broda, who was also selected by the Capitals in the fifth round of the 2008 draft.
Bennett suspects the Colts can at least breeze to the OHL final.
"Looking at pure skill alone, I don't see them having too much trouble playing to the OHL championship, but, as always, beware of hubris and over-confidence," she said. "The Spitfires and the Knights will be looking for chinks in the armour."
The Colts set franchise records left, right and centre, including most goals in a season set by forward Bryan Cameron who tallied 53 on the campaign, not to mention most consecutive wins at 22 and most points in a season at 116.
Bennett says there are plenty of similarities between the Barrie Colts and her high-flying Capitals.
"The season has all the hallmarks of the Capitals' season so far: the scoring, the winning, the way they toy with their opponent and then break them like an egg in the third period," she said.
The Colts' season has also been good for the sporting good business.
Garner Source for Sports, in downtown Barrie, carries Colts merchandise. They have everything from foam fingers to mini helmets to polo shirts.
Employee Damien Allen said jerseys had been a hot commodity earlier in the season, particularly the team's home and third jerseys. They've sold out of jerseys, however, in part due to the phenomenal season the Jr. 'A' team has been having.
"It's definitely been because of the year they're having," Allen said. "But we're going to be getting the new Colts jerseys for next year."
rbowe@thebarrieexaminer.com twitter.com/RaymondBowe
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Series preview: Colts primed and ready to renew rivalry with the Wolves.Page B1
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Fan bus heading north to Sudbury
(STAFF) -- Sudbury-bound fan buses for Saturday's Game 2 and Wednesday's Game 4 are being organized. The cost is $40, plus $15 for the game ticket. Seating is limited to 46 people.
The bus departs at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, and will returns at about 2 a.m. the following morning.
There will be a sign-up sheet at Thursday's Game 1 on the northeast concourse.
For more information, call 722-6587.
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Record-setting Colts
Most wins: 57 Fewest losses: 9 Points, team: 116
Winning percentage: .853 Win streak: 22 games Goals, team: 327
Goals, player: 53, Bryan Cameron Most shorthanded goals, player: 11, Alex Hutchings
Assists, defenceman: 59, Nick Crawford
Plus/minus rating, player: Plus-51, Nick Crawford
