Sault's Hudson Chitaroni focused on next season in Sudbury, playing pro hockey
Article content
Encouraged by the play of their rookie forwards, however, head coach Scott Barney and company were hopeful players such as Hudson Chitaroni would make the most of their opportunity for more ice time and lead the club to a strong finish.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Moving into Sudbury's top six, Chitaroni responded with his strongest stretch of the season with 11 points in 10 games, including three goals and three assists during a pivotal five-game winning streak through early March that secured a sixth-place finish in the Eastern Conference.
Article content
Article content
'It's always nice to put up numbers and what not, but I'm a guy who always believes in himself and I believe in my abilities,' said the 17-year-old Sault Ste. Marie resident, reached in his hometown earlier this week.
Article content
'With Delic out, somebody needed to step up. I was given that opportunity and ran with it and I ended up doing pretty well for myself.'
Despite suffering his own late-season injury that surely hampered his contributions during the first round of the OHL playoffs, which saw the Pack eliminated by the Kingston Frontenacs in four games, the Soo Junior Greyhounds minor hockey product surely didn't lose any stock with big-league scouts for a lack of effort. Indeed, it's Chitaroni's commitment and character, as much as the impressive skill set that yielded a total of nine goals and 16 assists in his first year of major junior action, that have made the 5-foot-10, 178-pounder one of the Wolves' best hopes for a pick in the NHL Entry Draft this weekend.
Article content
Article content
Round 1 of the annual draft goes Friday at 7 p.m., followed by Rounds 2-7 on Saturday at noon.
Article content
'Obviously, getting drafted would be cool, but it's not really my main focus,' Chitaroni said. 'It's an invite to the dance. If I don't get drafted, it's not a big deal. I want to play pro one day and I just have to keep working and to keep listening to my coaches and doing everything I can to really improve and to just focus on myself as see how I do.'
Article content
One of three sons of former Wolves captain Terry Chitaroni to become major-junior draft picks, between defenceman Mason and winger Brock, Hudson Chitaroni became Sudbury's third-round choice in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection after a stellar 22-goal, 26-assist season with the Junior Hounds in the Great North Under-18 League. He was also a standout for Team NOHA at the 2023 OHL Cup showcase in Toronto, managing to hit the score sheet despite battling an illness that might have forced other players out of the lineup.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Team of sex assault victim support centres to oversee OHL's consent training to help with 'accountability'
A centralized team will now help Ontario Hockey League (OHL) squads enrol in the right mandatory consent and healthy masculinity training and ensure it's completed, under a new agreement between a coalition of sex assault victim support centres and the league. CBC spoke to parties involved in this move nearly a week after the Hockey Canada criminal trial in London ended with not guilty findings. The OHL made gender-based violence and consent training mandatory for all major junior teams about a decade ago. The league's Onside Program was developed for junior hockey teams by two sexual assault support centres in the province, with curriculum delivered to each team at the local level, by members of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres (OCRCC). Karley Doucette is manager of education and communications at the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region, which is part of the team of victim support centres that'll help oversee the Onside program. Previously, Doucette said, completion of the training wasn't tracked and about half of the 20 major junior hockey teams didn't actually participate every year or took different training not developed for OHL teams. "There have been gaps in accountability and there hasn't been any centralized oversight, so it's been impossible to ensure consistency and quality across the league," Doucette said. Importance of 'understanding consent' The two-hour Onside program was developed in 2008, with the OHL making it mandatory in 2016. The curriculum was distributed to OCRCC members, and each team was expected to connect with local centres, which would proceed to deliver the sessions every fall before the start of the junior hockey season. In recent years, however, some teams and resource-stretched sexual assault victim support centres said they have had trouble scheduling the sessions, which focus on healthy masculinity, relationships, power dynamics and bystander intervention consent. "I think it's critical that we're talking about this now and understanding consent, and how it's given and all the pieces of the program," said OHL commissioner Bryan Crawford. The Hockey Canada trial centred on the issue of whether there was consent between the complainant, E.M., whose identity is protected under a standard publication ban, and the men, who were charged in relation to what went on in a London hotel room in 2018 when they were players on the gold medal-winning world junior team. All five were found not guilty by Justice Maria Carroccia after an eight-week trial. That trial has started conversations that should keep going, said Crawford. "It's critical that we're talking about it and understanding what consent is. There are certainly differences between legality and morality, and understanding consent and how it is given." The not-guilty verdict in the high-profile Hockey Canada sexual assault trial has sparked a national conversation about how we define and understand consent. As the legal system wrestles with questions around fear, coercion, and credibility, Just Asking looks at what consent really means in practice and how we can talk about it more openly. Joining us are Farrah Kahn, a consent educator and the CEO of Possibility Seeds, and Gillian Hnatiw, a Toronto-based lawyer who specializes in gender-based violence. The Onside program links local sexual assault centres with junior teams, but some centres have had better luck getting their city's teams to participate than others, Doucette said. "Some teams have done the training, others have done other types of training. There hasn't been a consistency throughout the league." For example, the OHL's London Knight, this year's Memorial Cup champions, had been in a one-hour training course with an organization not accredited to deliver the two-hour Onside program developed specifically for players. Doucette said sexual assault centres met with the league in 2023 to propose more money for victim support centres that offer the training and a centralized co-ordination to expand the Onside program to ensure every team participated. But they did not hear back from OHL management at the time. "This summer, we went back to the OHL and had another meeting and proposed the same things we proposed in 2023, and we're pleased that they've responded and entered into a partnership with us," Doucette said. "We will now oversee the training across the province." More funding for training Sexual assault centres previously were given a $300 honorarium for the Onside training, but they said that did not properly compensate them for the staff time spent preparing and delivering the curriculum. The honorarium amount has now increased significantly, said Doucette, who would not provide specifics. The OHL remains responsible for ensuring each team follows through with the training and schedules it with their local centre. Doucette's centralized team will both help teams link up with the centres accredited to provide the training and track their participation. "We're hoping that because this trial was so publicly talked about, it will be a wake-up call," she said. Crawford called the changes a positive evolution of the program, and said he fully supports a more centralized oversight body to continue to tweak and make improvements. "It helps us achieve what we all want, which is administering this really beneficial, impactful programming that makes a difference and achieves the goals that we're setting up to achieve."
Ottawa Citizen
4 days ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Rowan Henderson eyes big sophomore season with Sudbury Wolves
Article content Just as it took OHL clubs a little while to truly appreciate Rowan Henderson's game, Sudbury Wolves fans may have needed to watch a few shifts last season before realizing what they had in the rookie forward from Wellesley, Ont. Article content Soon, however, they were bound to note not only Henderson's consistently high work rate, but the effective use of angles, stick placement and speed that made him one of head coach Scott Barney's most trusted penalty killers and a deserving winner of the team's Best Defensive Player. Article content Article content After potting his first goal into an empty net back on Nov. 10, the 5-foot-10, 178-pound Waterloo Wolves minor hockey product also showcased his offensive skill down the stretch, finishing with 11 goals and 13 assists in 66 games. Article content Article content 'I had a lot of fun,' said the 17-year-old son of Andrew and Alecia Henderson, reached in his hometown earlier this month. 'It was really different, meeting all the new guys, but it was such a good group. I had fun coming to the rink every day. Article content 'Being on the ice every day was something new, but I enjoyed it, just showing up, being with the guys and the grind of the season is fun, road trips and all that type of thing. I thought it was successful and it's something to build off of, for sure.' Article content Sudbury's first-round pick, 12th overall, in the OHL Under-18 Priority Selection last year, Henderson followed the likes of Nick DeGrazia, Emmett Serensits, Nate Krawchuk and Mitchell Weeks in making the most of a second chance to turn the heads of Wolves brass. But not even those impressive predecessors made such an impact at such a young age as Henderson, who won't celebrate his 18th birthday until Dec. 10 and isn't eligible for the NHL Entry Draft until next summer. Article content Article content Signed out of training camp last fall, the newcomer embraced his role as a pesky, persistent forechecker and a diligent defender, while adhering strictly to the system put in place by Barney and his staff. Article content 'I think it was just listening to the coaches, listening to what they had to say,' Henderson suggested. 'They know better than me, so I just had to listen and whatever they said, I did. I adjusted my game to what I needed to do and the communication was always great, so I always knew what I had to do and when I had to do it.' Article content He pointed to his vision and ability to read plays, which served him so well on offence while leading Waterloo to the Alliance U18 AAA championship, as attributes that also lent themselves well to his success on the other side of the puck. Article content 'I was always leaned on a little bit more for offence on previous teams,' Henderson said. 'I always killed penalties, but it kind of became an identity for me, being a pesky guy, putting my sticks in the right lanes, being hard to play against and being solid defensively.'
CTV News
6 days ago
- CTV News
World Junior Summer Showcase roster includes hockey players from Kitchener and Brantford
Kitchener Rangers defenceman Cameron Reid and Brantford Bulldogs players Owen Protz, Jake O'Brien and Marek Vanacker are seen in this undated collage (Courtesy: OHL). The long-awaited World Junior Summer Showcase is underway in Minneapolis, Minn., and several Ontario Hockey League (OHL) players from Kitchener and Brantford are among those taking part. The annual event serves as an evaluation camp for players aiming to earn a spot on their national team for the 2026 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Hockey Championship, set to begin in December. Players from Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland have been invited to represent their respective countries. This year, Hockey Canada selected 44 players from across the country to participate. Among them are Kitchener Rangers defenceman Cameron Reid and Brantford Bulldogs players Owen Protz, Jake O'Brien and Marek Vanacker. Throughout the week, athletes will take part in practices, scrimmages and three exhibition games against international opponents. Participants are split into two teams—Red and White—for internal matchups, including an intrasquad game scheduled for July 29. Canada is then set to face Finland on July 30, Sweden on Aug. 1 and the United States on Aug. 2. The IIHF uses a three-point system during competition: three points are awarded to the team that wins in regulation, one point each if the game is tied after regulation and an additional point to the winner of a five-minute overtime or shootout. Guelph Storm forward Jett Luchanko was also invited by Hockey Canada but was unable to attend the showcase. The World Junior Summer Showcase wraps up on Aug. 2. The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship will run from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.
