Spirit adds national team star
Highly regarded centre Jake Goldowski has left the United States National Team Development Program to sign with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League.
Spirit director of broadcasting and communications Joey (Slick) Battaino confirmed that Goldowski has signed a standard player agreement and education package with the OHL team.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Goldowski, who has a 2000 birth date, was selected by Saginaw in the fourth round of the 2016 OHL draft. The American-born Goldowski hails from the state of Pennsylvania.
An up-and-coming OHL team flush with young talent, several of Saginaw’s top players have 2000 birth dates including high-scoring, second-year forward Damien Giroux, flashy, productive rookie forward Blade Jenkins and high-end, first-year defenseman Caleb Everett.
Giroux, who is from the Sudbury area, is one of several northern Ontario products who are part of what looms as a bright future in Saginaw.
Others include second-year forwards Max Grondin (Hearst) and Danny Katic (Timmins), rookie goalie Cameron Lamour (Sudbury) and rookie forward Nick Porco (Sault Ste. Marie.)
Grondin, Katic and Lamour all have 2000 birth dates and are products of the same 2016 OHL draft spun by general manager Dave Drinkill that yielded the aforementioned Goldowski, Giroux, Jenkins and Everett.
Porco, meanwhile, was Saginaw’s first round pick, fourth overall, at the 2017 OHL draft.
PHOTO: Saginaw owner Richard Garber, general manager Dave Drinkill, newly-signed center Jake Goldowski and president Craig Goslin. (Photo by Saginaw Spirit.)