Haliburton County Huskies coach Ryan Ramsay remembers what it was like when, as a player, he’d be called up to play in allstar games, high profile exhibitions, and for his nation at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
“It was always an exciting time – a bit of a break from routine, an opportunity to put yourself out there and showcase what you can do,” Ramsay said.
The 41-year-old will be behind the bench for the inaugural ‘Battle of Ontario’ showcase in Smiths Falls Nov. 19 and 20. The weekend will see players and coaches from the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) and Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) do battle for provincial bragging rights.
It’ll be the third successive year Ramsay has been a part of the league’s all-star festivities, having coached one of the allrookie teams in 2022 and one of the primary teams in 2023. This year he’ll team up with Derek Smith, coach of the Trenton Golden Hawks, to lead Team Evan Rodrigues – OJHL alumni and current NHLer with the Flordia Panthers.
There will be some familiar faces – Huskies stalwarts Carson Littlejohn, Nathan Poole, and Ty Petrou will all dress for their usual coach during the exhibition. For the rookie team, Carter Nadon, Camron Hankai, Alex Smeeton and Ryan Fairbairn all earned callups.
Ramsay said he’s excited to test himself against colleagues from the CCHL – home of the top-ranked team in the country, the Rockland Nationals.
“This year is a bit special with it being the ‘Battle of Ontario’. Normally in an all-star game it’s not the best quality or calibre of game, but this one is going to be a big deal with two leagues facing off,” Ramsay said. “There’ll be pressure – we’ve picked a team to go there and win.”
The build for the event has been a nice distraction from his day-to-day responsibilities as head coach and general manager with the Huskies – several phone and Zoom calls with Smith and other league officials to brainstorm, identify standout players, and build dream lines.
Ramsay said it’ll be a special weekend for all players involved, a unique opportunity to catch the eye of scouts from across Canada and the U.S. “There’s going to be NHL teams there, Division 1 NCAA teams there.
There’s going to be tons of teams watching. It’s a great place for these kids to showcase themselves, try and get noticed. There’s a ton of talent in our league,” he said.
The coach reflects on his teenage years – after a successful career in the Ontario Hockey League, where he put up 293 points in 324 regular and post-season games between 1999 and 2004, Ramsay was spurned by the NHL’s Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes before earning a contract with the St. Louis Blues.
He spent three years with the organization, playing mostly in the American Hockey League (AHL) and East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), before spending eight years playing professionally in Europe.
Ramsay said a big part of the weekend will be sharing stories with his young players and helping them to advance their young careers.
Following the recent news that, starting next season, the NCAA will allow players who have played in the Canadian Hockey League – a step above the Canadian Junior Hockey League circuit – Ramsay feels the move is a positive one.
The OJHL has long touted itself as the alternative for talented hockey players with aspirations to play college hockey stateside.
“It’s great for the players to have the best of both worlds. The unknown is nobody really knows the effect of the ruling and how things will play out, but it definitely gives kids options,” Ramsay said. “I’ve heard lots of stories over my seven or eight years of coaching where [OHL] teams commit to a guy, maybe tell him false information, only to play him in 10 games and cut him, burning his eligibility for NCAA. This stops things like that from happening.”
The Huskies coach said he isn’t worried about the ruling damaging the OJHL – believing the league will still be attract topclass developing players.
