Getting caught up with local hockey news
Quite a few Peterborough Petes and Peterborough minor hockey alumni have made headlines in recent weeks.
During Saturday’s OHL draft, the Soo Greyhounds selected Cade Kinnear of the Carolina Premier U15s in the ninth round. He is the son of former Petes captain Geordie Kinnear, who is head coach of the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Cade, a five-foot-10, 137-pound left winger, was born in Albany, N.Y., when his father was an assistant coach with the AHL’s Albany River Rats.
Former Petes forward Akil Thomas realized a lifelong dream on April 1 as he made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings in a 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Three nights later, Thomas scored his first NHL goal in a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.
It’s been a long road to the NHL for Thomas, whose pro career was stalled by injuries. Prior to his callup, he was playing his fourth season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, and the 24-year-old Toronto native registered 22 goals and 21 assists in 61 games with Ontario this season. The Kings’ 2018 second-round pick signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the club on July 8, 2023.
Ex-Pete Cameron Butler made his NHL debut for the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 30 in a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Never drafted to the NHL, Butler signed a three-year entry-level NHL contract with Columbus following his overage season with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals.
Following the game, the 21-yearold from Ottawa was returned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, where he has two goals and four assists for six points with 71 penalty minutes in 51 games this season.
After the Owen Sound Attack were eliminated from the OHL playoffs, Petes alumnus Konnor Smith signed an amateur tryout contract with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls and scored his first professional goal in his debut on April 6 in a 4-1 loss to the Tucson Roadrunners.
Smith was a fourth-round draft pick last spring of the Anaheim Ducks, parent club of the Gulls. He’s played five games with San Diego, adding 10 penalty minutes to his one goal.
Overage defenceman Sam Mayer, dealt to the Ottawa 67’s at the trade deadline, was named the Cogeco OHL Player of the Week on April 8. He recorded three goals and three assists in four playoff contests along with a plus/minus rating of plus-4, helping Ottawa skate to a 4-2 series win over the Brantford Bulldogs.
Mayer registered a career high four-point night, scoring a hat trick along with an assist in a 6-5 overtime win to earn first star honours on April 4.
The previous week, Owen Beck, dealt to the Saginaw Spirit at the trade deadline, was the Cogeco OHL Player of the Week. He tallied a goal and five assists in a pair of playoff contests, helping his team sweep Owen Sound.
Brantford forward Nick Lardis, the Petes’ top pick in the 2021 OHL draft, signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this month. Lardis was selected by Chicago in the third round, 67th overall, of the 2023 NHL entry draft.
After missing the last 31 games of the regular season due to injury, Lardis picked right up where he left off, scoring two goals in Game 1 of the Bulldogs’ opening-round series of the playoffs and leading the team with four points through three games at the time of his signing.
A pair of coaches with local connections also received contract extensions.
Petes alumnus and former head coach Jody Hull signed on for a third season as associate coach with the WHL’s Tri-Cities Americans.
Peterborough minor hockey grad Paul Flache was signed to a multiyear extension by the OHL’s Flint Firebirds. Flache took over as Flint’s head coach early in the 2023-24 season.