NEWS

(pictured - Trenton Golden Hawks captain Tyler Donaldson is looking to bring a championship to his hometown during his final season of junior hockey - photo credit:  Amy Deroche/OJHL Images)

As a hockey player growing up, you play in your local hometown association.  From tyke through until bantam, or midget, you play with the same group of kids through practices and games. If you’re good enough come 16 or 17, a Junior 'A' hockey team from across the country may come to try and woo you their way so that they may use your services towards an RBC Cup.  Now imagine if it was your hometown team? It would almost be like a dream come true.  In fact, you could almost say it would be awesome.  That was the exact word that Trenton captain Tyler Donaldson used to describe his experience.  “It has been awesome playing for my hometown Trenton. They run a great organization and there is a lot of good people surround the team.”

Donaldson hails from Wooler, Ontario, about a 15 minute drive to the Duncan McDonald Memorial Gardens in Trenton.  After toiling in the ‘AAA’ ranks with the Quinte Red Devils organization, Donaldson got a taste of Junior 'A' action in his midget year, appearing in three games with the Golden Hawks.  Following his midget year, he would go onto join the big club in Trenton on a fulltime basis. Most players would be thrilled to get to wear the sweater of the team they grew up watching. Being named captain? Well, it doesn’t get any better than that and Donaldson knows that, “It is a honour to be named captain of the junior team that I grew up watching.”

In a game where size is seen as an advantage, Donaldson comes in as one of the smallest in the league.  He registers just 5”8’, but it hasn’t been something he’s let affect his play.  Despite playing in one of the toughest divisions, Donaldson still manages to be effective at both ends of the rink and the change in the style of hockey has certainly helped skilled players like him.  Tyler realizes he isn’t going to be one of the biggest guys on the ice, but knows what it takes to stay. “I have had to get stronger to play, being one of the smaller guys. It's not all about size, you have to be smart and quick to be effective at this level.”

Coming into his fifth season of Junior ‘A’ hockey,  Donaldson has spent the majority of his time with the Trenton Golden Hawks.  In his second year with Trenton he was dealt to the Peterborough Liftlock Stars halfway through the season.  The next year he spent it in Lindsay, before returning to Trenton.  Head coach Jerome Dupont knew his team was missing something without Donaldson.  Complete players are hard to find and that was what brought the Hawks to re-acquire Donaldson according to the head coach, “We acquired Tyler from Lindsay because he comes to play every shift of every game and is proficient at both ends of the ice.”  He went on to stress how important Donaldson continues to be to the team, “Tyler is so important to the team because he is a true leader both on-and-off the ice. He is also a local boy who provides with a solid link to the Trenton community.”

A player doesn’t stick around in this league if he doesn't progress in his development.  When you take a look at the stats of Tyler Donaldson you can see, just on numbers alone, that there has been improvement every year.  And that’s just the offensive side of things.  Not only has he worked his way up to getting first line minutes while being relied upon to contribute offensively, he has rounded out his game on the defensive side too.  He’s now one of the guys that Jerome Dupont looks to when trying to shutdown other teams top lines.  

“Tyler has progressed as a player going from being an energy player when we acquired him to a player that can play very well in any and all situations (scorer/playmaker as well as shut down the opposition's top line). He also plays better when it matter most.”  

His well rounded play, combined with his character & work ethic, was also a reason that the team saw him fit to wear the ‘C’ this season. According to Dupont, “We chose Tyler as captain because he is our hardest worker, has tremendous character and is a 'go to' player that can both offend as well as defend.”

The Trenton Golden Hawks haven’t reached the success they would have liked to over the past five years.  After stable ownership was found and Trenton settled on a name, the owners started compiling a team that could compete for not just a league title, but a national title.  

Despite some great years during the regular season, the playoffs proved to be a stumbling block for the Hawks.  They are off to another great start to the season and because of this, there is extra pressure to carry the success to and through the playofffs.  Donaldson agrees that there is extra pressure, but feels this years team isn’t just good, they’re great.  

“Yes there is some pressure to make this year count in the playoffs . We have had good teams in the past, but I feel that this year we have a great team.”  They’ve even adopted a new slogan for the year, “it's not about how good you are, it's how bad you want it.” The captain is the one who others look to in good times and bad.  Tyler’s leadership style is one that can be applied to life, and not just hockey.  “I like to lead by example, by keeping a good attitude and working hard on and off the ice.”

There may be extra pressure on Donaldson this season.  He’s in his final year of eligibility and adding a championship to his resume would be a good way to end a storybook career with his hometown team. However, when I asked him about this he was quick to think of his teammates, the fans and the community while never mentioning himself.  Every player wants to be remembered and for Tyler he wants to be remembered for being the first captain to bring a title back to Trenton under this franchise.  The Sting franchise saw success, but this team is separate from that one. The Trenton Golden Hawks used to be the Port Hope Predators.  

“The footprint that I want to leave this year is to bring a championship to Trenton. I feel that we have a great group of guys and we are capable of anything we set our minds to. The fans have been very supportive and it would a great feeling to be able to share the excitement of a championship with our loyal fans.”  

Allan Etmanski covers the OJHL East Division for In The O... and more articles by the author can be found at intheoradio.com. In The O...goes beyond conventional coverage of junior hockey providing unprecedented coverage of Minor Midget, OJHL, CCHL and the OHL.