The Future is Bright For This Budding Star
With a potential life changing draft coming up, this young hockey player is looking forward to what the future brings.
Fifteen-year-old Connor Hay’s hockey career is at a crossroad. This upcoming year he has the chance to be drafted to the Ontario Hockey League, one of three major junior hockey leagues which make up the Canadian Hockey League. The league consists of the best players aged 16–21 and is one of the best places to be if you want to be drafted to the NHL.
To get drafted to the OHL, you need to be at the top of your game, and play at the most elite level for your age. Hay does just that, playing in Greater Toronto Hockey League’s most elite division, AAA, where for the past few years he has played for some of the divisions worst teams, the Markham Majors and Toronto Titans. But he has finally gotten his big break, getting signed by the Toronto Marlies, a prestigious hockey club and top team in the division.
“It definitely feels good, feels like all of the hard work is finally paying off,” Hay said. “I’m definitely excited to play for such a good team. I want to play at the highest possible level and to get to play for this team gives me a shot at that.”
Former teammate Leo Chalmers expressed joy for his friend who has moved on to a better team.
“I’m super happy for him, he deserves it,” Chalmers said. “He is always one of the hardest working guys on the team and he is finally getting some recognition for it. The Marlies always have a really good team, and I’m happy that Connor is getting a shot to play for them.”
The chance of playing in the OHL is something Hay is interested in, but he isn’t banking on it to extend his career.
“It would definitely be really cool to get drafted,” Hay said. “But it’s not the number one goal for me. I think what I want is to be scouted by an NCAA team, and play at a high level while getting a degree.”
He explained that his dream destination would be Boston University, but jokingly said he would settle for a scholarship from Harvard. While he is still a bit young to be officially approached by an American university, some are taking notice.
“I got invited to a D1 prospect camp last summer,” Hay said. “It was really cool, there were tons of scouts and coaches there from some of the best hockey universities. I talked to the coaches of the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth. They said they were interested, but I was only going into grade ten, and still too young for them to make any kind of commitment.”
