The Barrie Colts have named Evan Passmore as the team’s captain for the coming OHL season. He is the 28th captain in team history. Carter Lowe, Dylan Tsherna and Will Schneid have been named as assistants. The new look Barrie Colts were back on the ice at Sadlon Arena this morning in advance of the season opener tomorrow on the road. Gone are players like Atcheson, Boudain and Hrebik. In are new and younger players looking to fit the Barrie mould. “We are big, we are heavy, we are in your face. We take pride in defending but at the same time we want to be the hardest team in the league to play against for 60 minutes,” Dylan Smoskowitz, Barrie Colts head coach. Smoskowitz was a finalist for the OHL’s coach of the year last season after leading the team to an eastern conference championship. He says there are no expectations going in but he says the right mind set is crucial. “We have to find ways to win days and winning days could mean good practises, they could mean good video sessions. Whatever the case may be, we just need to find a way to be our best version of ourselves on a daily basis,” says Smoskowitz from outside his office at the Sadlon arena. There are several new additions to the Colts this season and many players are looking to settle in and make their own mark. “There’s a little bit of nerves, but every single day the nerves get lower and lower just talking to coaches being with teammates and kind of sharing the same experience as some of the guys here definitely takes a lot of the nerves off. So things have been good and hopefully they can keep going,” says forward Rocco Olek. “I think just knowing the guys in this room and our willingness to compete and our love to win, I think we’ll have a great success and catch a lot of people off guard,” says Hagan Bach, Barrie Colts goalie. We will try and take the key values that we used last year to find our success and try to replicate that this year. It’s going to be a big thing that we try and do for this upcoming year,” says Luc Gauvreau, Barrie Colts left winger. Barrie will kick off the regular season on Friday in North Bay. The home opener is set for Saturday at Sadlon Arena against Sudbury. Fan fest activities will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will include a meet-and-greet with the players and a free hot dog and drink.
