Barrie Colts’ Aaron Ekblad draws inspiration from captain’s absence

Aaron Ekblad and the Barrie Colts have their rallying point — don't let their captain end his OHL career watching idly from the press box.

In playoffs, where it's all about staying even-keeled in a swirl of energy and emotions, sometimes it's best to roll with the punches. The Colts didn't get through the first round without taking a body blow when overage captain Ryan O'Connor received a 10-game head-checking ban for a borderline check in their second playoff game. It means the Colts are down an integral defender, putting more onus on the 17-year-old Ekblad going into their Eastern Conference semifinal against the Oshawa Generals and their cadre of seasoned scoring punch in the form of Tyler Biggs, Boone Jenner, Scott Laughton, Lucas Lessio and Scott Sabourin.

"Without a doubt," Ekblad said when asked the suspension to O'Connor has galvanized the Colts. "Ryan has had a very storied career in the OHL and it would be great for him to end his junior career with a championship and and a Memorial Cup championship — that's what our team is aiming for.

"O.C. is our captain, he's great on the back end, he does a lot of amazing things for our hockey team, The fact he got suspended is a tragedy for us, but we have to look by it and use it as motivation to keep going. Other guys will have to step up.

"Those guys are huge part of our team," Ekblad added, referring to O'Connor and Boston Bruins power-winger prospect Anthony Camara, who still has one game left on a suspension assessed for flipping a puck into the crowd during Barrie's first series against the Kingston Frontenacs.

"No one overlooks them."

'Big series for him'

Ekblad receiving extended ice time should hold no terror for Barrie. The 2014 NHL draft prospect received expanded ice time during his first playoffs last spring, when the Colts came up one goal short of making the third round. Assistant coach Jay Wells notes, "the thing people keep forgetting — and it's a big thing — is that we ran with four D during both the first and second series." O'Connor's absence means Ekblad and veteran forward Steven Beyers also have to staff the points on the first-unit power play.

"Ice time has never been a problem for him," Wells said of Ekblad. "He's got good VO2, good conditioning. Sure, he has some defects that he has to keep working on but that's just youth in itself. It's going to be a big series for him. He's going to be carrying more of that load with Ryan out and he's been preparing for this for the last two years, basically."

"He doesn't get first-string power play all season long but we try to get him out there in situations where he could achieve success throughout the year. We [Wells and Colts coach Dale Hawerchuk] did that so that if Ryan were to go down, we're not surprised or not ready for that situation. It's going to be a test for Aaron. With Ryan out, he's now quarterbacking the power play. Again, he's 16 and he's more than adequate. That's the amazing part. Mentally, he's ready to go and physically he is, too ... we're expecting big things out of this series for him."

'Can't go in thinking they can overpower us'

Ekblad, who received exceptional status to play in the OHL at age 15 in 2011 before Connor McDavid did for this season and before Sean Day did for next season, has made great strides in his sophomore season. Colts coach Dale Hawerchuk has likened him to "[being] like a 19-year-old for two years. He and 18-year-old defence partner Jonathan Laser will probably draw some prime assignments against the physical Generals. Even without O'Connor, the Colts have two NHL-drafted defenceman helming their other two D pairings in 6-foot-4 Buffalo Sabres pick Alex Lepkowski and Tampa Bay Lightning fifth-rounder Jake Dotchin.

"You look forward to the challenge but of course you can't respect a team too much," says Ekblad, who had seven goals, 34 points and +29 plus/minus in 54 regular-season games. "I'm confident our team can take care of them and every guy on the team is confident. We can't go in thinking they can overpower us."

In the second round last spring, the Colts couldn't finish off the Ottawa 67's, who had two players, Los Angeles Kings right wing Tyler Toffoli and Detroit Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek, who have debuted in the NHL. A fluke goal by Ottawa's Brett Gustavsen, whose quick shot from the corner shot through Colts goalie Mathias Niederberger's five-hole, completed a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit.

Back in the present, the 6-foot-4, 213-pound Ekblad is hoping to display that he can complement his sound positional play by using his big body. Of course, being a taller defenceman in a junior league with a wide variance in the size of players means what could be a hockey play in the league he aspires to, the NHL, could be a suspension in the OHL.

Unlike the motivation to keep playing so O'Connor can return, that can be blocked out.

"Over the course of the last year I'm trying to get a little more tough," Ekblad said. "I'm not worried about the way I'm playing, I've only had one penalty in the first four playoff games. I play on the edge, on the line. Of course, with my height, I have to watch where my stick is, how high I'm hitting. It's just another way of playing smart."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.