Yorkregion.com - Sports - No. 1 pick joins troops
No. 1 pick joins troops
Sports
May 08, 2008 11:23 PM
By: Mike Hayakawa
In the days leading up to last Saturday, Sam Carrick sat on pins and needles.
But these days, the 16-year-old Stouffville native is resting a lot easier.
Especially after the Brampton Battalion made Carrick the 15th-overall selection in the first round of the Ontario Hockey League draft.
“I was pretty nervous beforehand,” said Carrick, a six-foot, 165-pound centre who played this past season with the Toronto Red Wings AAA minor midgets of the Greater Toronto Hockey League. “I was thinking, ‘where will I go? What will happen in the draft?’
“But when Brampton called out my name, I just threw my arms up in the air and felt relieved,” he said.
Carrick had 40 goals and 30 assists in 55 contests with the Red Wings.
Rumours circulated that the Oshawa Generals were interested. Unfortunately for the Generals, they picked after Brampton.
Carrick wasn’t surprised as the Battalion met with him and his family a week earlier.
“We really didn’t know what they (the Battalion) would do, Maybe if someone was supposed to go higher they might have picked him. But I guess that didn’t happen,” he said.
The younger brother of Jake Carrick, who just completed his first season as a forward with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Sault Star newspaper suggested the Hounds pick little brother, too.
The Grade 10 Stouffville District Secondary School student isn’t putting added pressure on himself from being a first-round pick or the sibling of an established player.
“I’ve just got to go out on the ice and play my game. I’ve got to give it my all on every shift. Hopefully, I’ll get plenty of ice time and try to score when I can and help the team any way I can,” he said.
The selection was icing on the cake that was the 2007-08 season. Carrick played a key role in helping the Stouffville Secondary capture its second straight Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations A/AA title.
“It’s unbelievable. I can’t wait to get started. This (to be chosen in the first round by the Battalion) is just another step toward my main goal of making it in the pros,” he said. “This is a year I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Stouffville Spirit forward Darren Archibald was taken in the seventh round and 127th overall by the Barrie Colts.
The 18-year-old from Newmarket was a late cut by the Colts last fall, as a free agent.
In the 11th round, the Oshawa Generals chose five-foot, 10-inch, 170-lb. forward Evan Bruno with the 217th selection.
He played minor midget hockey last season with Carrick and the Toronto Red Wings.
The 16-year-old Grade 10 Brother Andre Catholic High School student, who also played high school hockey with the Cardinals, began his career in Stouffville at the mite and tyke levels before going to the Markham Waxers organization for a couple of years and then the GTHL.
For more on the draft, go to: ontariohockeyleague.com