The Barrie Colts may have come out on the wrong end of a 2-l overtime loss to the Bulldogs in Brantford on Friday night, but they still had something to celebrate.
Marty Williamson lit up when asked about the earlier news Friday that both forward Cole Beaudoin and defenceman Beau Akey were named to the Canadian national team roster.
“It’s bittersweet,” the head coach said of the day that ended with a disappointing loss. “It’s a good day today, both our boys make world juniors and we’re pretty happy for Beau Akey and Cole Beaudoin. We’ll take the point and just move on.”
Akey’s selection tops off a long journey that had him spend most of last season and this summer recovering from extensive surgeries on both his shoulders. The Edmonton Oilers prospect knocked off some early season rust and all that hard work paid off to make his dream of playing at worlds come true.
“He didn’t get invited to (national) camp at the start of the year, and he wasn’t quite ready,” said Williamson of the blueliner who has four goals and 19 points in 25 games with Barrie this season. “I think at the beginning of the year he was on the outside looking in, and it’s a credit to him that he just kept getting better and better.”
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Akey had to beat out the likes of Saginaw Spirit star Zayne Parekh, a 2024 ninth-overall pick of the Calgary Flames, and Guelph Storm veteran Cam Allen on the point.
“He had a really good November for us, and I thought, ‘the old Beau Akey is back. He’s fully recovered,”’ said Williamson. “It takes a lot of time. When you’re off for a year, this isn’t some two weeks of rest and then all of a sudden, you’re playing. It’s months.
“He kept his nose down, he didn’t complain. Sometimes his ice time wasn’t quite as much. He said, ‘No, bring me along,’ and he’s been rewarded for it. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Beaudoin’s addition to the team was no surprise to Williamson or anyone who has closely watched the Utah NHL prospect’s game over the last couple of seasons.
“I know some people were surprised he made the team, but it doesn’t surprise me,” said Williamson. “You want Cole Beaudoin on your hockey team. He’ll score big goals for you and play great defence. He’ll kill penalties. He’ll be physical.
“There was no way he wasn’t going to be on that team. Whether some are surprised or not, I’m not at all.”
As usual, there was plenty of buzz surrounding the Canadian national roster this season. Along with Parekh and Allen, other notable cuts included Oshawa star and Anaheim third overall selection Beckett Sennecke, London’s Denver Barkey and Andrew Cristall, while returnees Matthew Wood and Scott Ratzlaff were also released.
Saginaw forward and OHL scoring leader Michael Misa didn’t even receive an invite to selection camp in Ottawa.
“It’s a tough team to make,” said Williamson, of the decision facing head coach Dave Cameron and Team Canada staff. “I heard Akey played really well today and Cobo’s a little banged up, he hurt his hand, but he still impressed people. We love both of them and it’s going to make world juniors a lot of fun to watch and root for those two guys.”
The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Ottawa. Canada’s 25-man roster will kick off the tournament against Finland on Boxing Day.
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