Flint fashions future flash


By
March 21, 2019

By playing to win, the Flint Firebirds moved from last place to second last in the final Ontario Hockey League regular-season standings for 2018-2019. And while a 5-3-2 record over its last 10 games will cost Flint the no. 1 pick at the upcoming OHL priority selections draft, the Firebirds can’t be accused of tanking it.

With 10 games to go in the 2018-2019 regular season, Flint and the Kingston Frontenacs were tied for last place in the OHL’s overall standings with 26 points each.

Whichever team finished last would get the first overall pick at the April 6 OHL draft and be in position to take franchise forward Shane Wright.

But if anyone thought that Flint would play to lose and finish last to pick first, the Firebirds instead went all out.

As Flint picked up 12 points in its last 10 games from a record of 5-3-2, Kingston went 2-8-0 over its final 10 outings and — for good measure — ended the regular season with five straight losses.

Well, Kingston may end up with Wright but it can be said that Flint played the right way.

And it wasn’t just those last 10 games in which Flint showed signs of turning its season around after a disastrous start.

At the halfway point of the regular season — the 34-game mark — Flint was deep in last place with just eight points from a record of 3-29-2. At the same time, Kingston had a record of 9-24-1 and was 11 points ahead of Flint.

But the Firebirds ran up a record of 13-17-4 over their next 34 games to finish with a 16-46-6 mark. The Frontenacs, meanwhile, went from bad to worse over their last 34 games with a record of 5-28-1 to finish with a 14-52-2 mark — and gain the right to draft Wright.

Oh well.

To be sure, the second-half surge, modest as it may have been, should serve Flint well as general manager Barclay Branch, head coach Eric Wellwood and assistants Darcy Findlay and Garrett Rutledge look ahead to the 2019-2020 season.

Before that though, there is the upcoming, April 6 OHL priority selections draft.

After Kingston does the expected and makes Wright the first overall pick of the 2019 draft, Flint will have the second selection.

And among other plum prospects, the Firebirds will be in position to take high-end forward Brennan Othmann or franchise-type defenseman Brandt Clarke. Of note, Othmann and Clarke were both teammates of the aforementioned Wright with the Don Mills minor midgets during the 2018-2019 season.

Meanwhile, the upcoming, April 6 OHL priority selections draft looms as a big opportunity for Flint to come away with a haul of young prospects early on.

That is because the Firebirds have five picks within the first three rounds — one in each of the first and second and three more in the third. Breaking it down in simple math, Flint is in position to draft five players among the top 60 picks of this year’s draft.

Without a doubt, this is a pivotal draft for the aforementioned, general manager Branch and Firebirds head scout Dave McParlan.

Branch and McParlan, along with Firebird scouts Kyle Branch, Freddie Coccimiglio, Derek Langlois, Joe McCann, Mike Oliverio and Tom Watson, can all help to set the table for extended success in Flint with a bountiful yield from the first three rounds of this year’s draft.

At any rate, having to rebuild an OHL team is nothing new for Branch. In his first and prior gig as an OHL general manager, Branch was at the helm of what has since become a successful Sudbury Wolves rebuild.

Now, having completed his second season as the GM in Flint with back-to-back playoff misses, Branch et al have positioned the Firebirds for better days ahead beginning with the 2019-2020 campaign.

Center Ty Dellandrea, Flint’s leading scorer this season with 63 points, is poised to again lead the way in what will be his fourth year with the Firebirds in 2019-2020. Dellandrea, who has a 2000 birth date, was a first round pick of the Dallas Stars at the 2018 National Hockey League draft.

Other returnees of note for 2019-2020 are three players with 2001 birth dates — import defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok and forwards Ethan Keppen and Cody Morgan.

Kolyachonok and Keppen are both being pegged as picks at this year’s NHL draft while Morgan was a point-per-game player (13 goals, 17 assists) for Flint in 30 outings after being obtained in a trade with the Windsor Spitfires.

Of further note, Keppen became a 30-goal scorer in 2018-2019 in just his second season in the OHL.

Another 2001 birth year player who is set to return in 2019-2020 is forward Emmet Pierce, who scored eight goals in 24 games for Flint this season after his OHL rights were obtained from the London Knights.

Arizona Coyotes draft pick Dennis Busby is also scheduled for a return to Flint next season. The 2000 birth-year defender played in just two games in 2017-2018 because of a collarbone injury and suited up for only 27 matches in 2018-2019 after recovering from a broken foot that he suffered at Arizona’s NHL training camp.

Yet another player of promise who was born in 2000 who will be counted on to continue to up his game next season is forward Eric Uba. Uba came on strong to finish the 2018-2019 season with 19 goals.

Then there is 1999 birth year forward Jake Durham, who had a breakout season with 35 goals. Durham is a top candidate to be one of the Firebirds three overage players for the 2019-2020 campaign.

One of the youngest players on the Firebirds is one with a tremendous upside.

He is 2002 birth-year centre Evan Vierling, who Flint took with the second overall pick at the 2018 OHL draft.

Vierling started off slowly as an OHL rookie this season and it took him 25 games to score his first goal. But the smart, slick pivot picked up 11 points over the final eight games of this season and finished with 6 goals, 21 assists, 27 points.

Next up, there is the upcoming, April 6 draft to stock up on future talent — and all of the above-mentioned veterans, among others, who figure to finally put Flint on the OHL map starting next season.

There is light at the end of the hockey tunnel that leads to Flint. At this time next year, playoff hockey figures to be in like Flint.

PHOTO: Flint Firebirds forward Evan Vierling.



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