Soo’s Tyler Dunbar drafted
Soo Minor Thunderbirds defenseman Tyler Dunbar has become an Ontario Hockey League draft pick of the Flint Firebirds.
The smart, slick, skilled defender was taken by Flint in the third round, 44th overall, of today’s OHL priority selections draft.
Dunbar, a 6-foot, 175-pounder, was fourth among Minor Thunderbird scorers during the 2018-2019 Great North Midget Hockey League regular season with four goals, 12 assists, 16 points in 23 games.
What is intriguing about Dunbar is his December 18 birth date, which made him one of the youngest players eligible for this year’s draft.
The youngster also has deep athletic bloodlines through his parents.
His Canadian-born dad, Alan Dunbar, played hockey at the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association level with the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames. And his American-born mom, Kris Bullock-Dunbar, was a standout basketball player (and later a high-end coach) with the Lake Superior State Lakers of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
A Michigan Soo native, Tyler Dunbar has become the highest-ever player to be drafted into the OHL from the small Upper Peninsula town.
PHOTO: Tyler Dunbar (right) with his Soo Minor Thunderbirds coach, Jamie Henderson. (Photo by Allana Plaunt.)
