Matt Duchene (left) of the Brampton Battalion and Ryan O'Reilly of the Erie Otters were both selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal. Photos: Aaron Bell/OHL Images.
Day two of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft quickly brought together two of the OHL’s premier players when the Colorado Avalanche selected forward Ryan O’Reilly of the Erie Otters with their second round selection, 33rd pick overall. O’Reilly joins forward Matt Duchene of the Brampton Battalion who was selected a day earlier in the first round, third pick overall, becoming the highest NHL pick ever from the Battalion hockey club.
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Both players began their junior careers at the same time joining the OHL following the 2007 Priority Selection. O’Reilly was the first overall pick to Erie from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, just ahead of Duchene who went fifth overall to Brampton out of the Central Ontario Wolves minor midget program.
“I heard my name called and it is just an unbelievable feeling” O’Reilly said shortly after round two began Saturday morning. “Being the first overall pick into the OHL put a lot of pressure on me that was good to experience early in my career, it was a big lesson for me.”
Although the two have competed against each other on the ice over the past two seasons, suiting up with the Avalanche would not be the first time the two have shared the same jersey. Both won gold medals as teammates on Team Canada at the 2008 World Under-18 Hockey Championships last April and as part of a Team Ontario team that captured gold at the 2008 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
“It’s phenomenal” O’Reilly said of the chance to play with Duchene again. “It’s an opportunity to play with a guy who is such a great player and a great teammate hopefully soon we will be playing together. He is a great player, really fast, unbelievable hands, and brings a lot to the table.”
Both players are leaders on their respective clubs serving as alternate captains this season and this same leadership has been demonstrated through International competition. O’Reilly, for example, was recently captain of Team Canada’s Under-18 squad at the 2009 World Championships. “I had a bigger role there than I did at the past Under-18” he said. “It was a great lesson for me to really step up.”
O’Reilly believes he will fit in with his new club based on some of their shared principles. “It is an organization that takes pride in great leadership, I think they look for guys with good character and make for good teammates and I am excited to be a part of that” he said.
The Avalanche are certainly pleased with the results of their draft. “I think it went great,” said Avalanche Director of Amateur Scouting Rick Pracey. “We were ecstatic to bring in Matt Duchene, and in our minds, we had valued Ryan (O’Reilly) as a first round pick,” noted Pracey.
Aside from O’Reilly, Duchene can use another connection in Colorado to help ease the transition from junior to pro hockey. Former Battalion star and current Avalanche forward Wojtek Wolski has played three full NHL seasons after being selected 21st overall by Colorado at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
“Obviously he’s a guy who has done very well, high draft pick and played for Brampton, I imagine I’ll lean on him as much as I can” said Duchene. “He’s been through a lot of the same systems, same coach, same place to live, and same place to play yeah it’s going to be very cool.”
