Curve Lake First Nation youth drafted by North Bay Battalion
By Sam Laskaris
PORT HOPE – Dalyn Wakely will be taking his talents to northern Ontario.
Wakely, a member of Curve Lake First Nation, was selected in the second round (30th overall) by the North Bay Battalion hockey club in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection draft held online Apr. 4.
Wakely, a 16-year-old who lives in Port Hope, had spent the 2019-20 campaign starring with the Quinte Red Devils’ Minor Midget AAA team.
Wakely, who was the captain of his squad, averaged two points per game, racking up 72 points (30 goals and 42 assists) in 36 regular season matches.
“Obviously it’s an honour to be drafted by any team in the OHL,” Wakely said.
Battalion general manager Adam Dennis said he could not believe Wakely was still available midway through the second round.
“We had done tons of mock drafts and he wasn’t really part of our conversations,” said Dennis, adding he was among those who felt Wakely would be one of the first 10 players chosen in the draft.
North Bay also had the first pick overall in the draft. The Battalion utilized that pick on Ty Nelson, a defenceman with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens’ Minor Midget AAA squad.
Afterwards, Dennis said that he felt the Jr. Canadiens and Red Devils were the top two Minor Midget AAA clubs in the province this past season and the Battalion was fortunate to draft the top player from both of those teams.
Since Quinte was one of Ontario’s elite clubs this season, Dennis said the Red Devils would have been heavily scouted.
And he personally was well aware of Wakely’s capabilities.
“Myself, I would have seen him a minimum of 15-20 times,” Dennis said.
No doubt Wakely was starting to feel a bit nervous as the draft was progressing as he had heard all the pre-draft predictions.
“It was all over the map,” he said of the possibilities that had him being an early first-round pick to someone who might not even be taken in the opening round of 20 players. “I always kept an open mind as my agent had told me anything could happen.”
Wakely is represented by Mark Guy, of Mississauga-based Newport Sports Management.
Wakely said he knew the Battalion would be selecting him moments before the announcement was made. That’s because Dennis called him to ask if he would report to North Bay if the Battalion used their second-round pick on him.
Dennis believes Wakely, a 6-foot, 173-pound centre, is capable of cracking the Battalion roster for the 2020-21 campaign.
“We’ll be treating him like a first-round draft pick,” Dennis said.
The Battalion could certainly use Wakely’s offensive skills. North Bay was occupying the cellar of the OHL standings when the league schedule was postponed last month and eventually cancelled because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Battalion had scored a league-low of 189 goals in 62 games when action was placed on hold.
For now, Wakely is concentrating on individual workouts in preparation for the upcoming season, anticipated to commence in September. The goal is to be back on the ice as soon as possible.
If the hockey world does indeed return to normal, Wakely hopes to start contributing to the Battalion fortunes.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to step in and make an impact right away,” he said.