Admirals blueliner happy to stay at home
Kaleb Dietsch doesn’t mind getting down and dirty.
The 16-year-old rearguard for the Southern Tier Admirals is an old fashioned, stay-at-home defenceman who is more than content to take care of things in his own end.
“This year mostly it’s been my role,” Dietsch said. “I accepted that’s all I’m going to play this year and I played it really well. He (coach Kevin Rosebrugh) had a lot of trust and faith in me to do my job and it turned out good.
“I was always a big defence-first guy.”
Dietsch, who collected three goals and 14 points in 35 regular season games for the Admirals before added three goals and six points in eight playoff games, did his homework when it came to his position.
“You have to know what forwards like to do, what moves they have,” the Holy Cross student said. “Sometimes I would ask guys on my team what moves would you like to do in this situation. You have to think all forwards think alike, if they see something similar, they are going to do that all the time.”
Dietsch’s attention to detail on defence is appreciated by his teammates.
“I love getting a big kill on a penalty, the bench has a good reaction after a big kill or even after a big hit,” he said.
Rosebrugh is a big fan of Dietsch’s attributes.
“He is a big mobile blueliner who has the ability to shut down teams’ top players,” Rosebrugh said. “He has good feet for a big kid and he has a really active stick that he uses effectively.
“He has a bright future at the next level.”
Dietsch is eager to hear his name called at the 2023 Ontario Priority Selection which begins Friday with rounds 1-3 starting at 7 p.m. and continues Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. with rounds 4-15.
“Honestly. I’m pretty excited. It’s a great experience and can’t wait to see how it turns out,” he said.“ I’m for sure going to follow it and see if a couple of guys I know go.”
Dietsch has become more familiar with the recruiting process after speaking to almost all 20 OHL organizations.
“It’s really good. They ask about who you are as a person and what role you play and what role you think you can play,” he said. “They want to know what you can do to get better and want to know your strengths and weaknesses.
“It gets easier as it goes on. I’m not a big a talker about myself. It kind of feels weird talking about myself all the time.”
Dietsch is a bit of a late bloomer, first cracking the AAA level five years ago before taking a step back to AA for a season. He has played the last three seasons with the Admirals.
“Only recently have I thought about it (OHL),” he said. “Maybe two years ago and I’ve been striving for it and putting in all the work to get better.”
Dietsch, who lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake where his parents own the Sandtrap Pub and Grill, enjoyed his season with the Admirals.
“We had a really good year. Rosie and the other coaches were fully on board. They really wanted to win and go far and go deep, which we did. They gave us the tools and experience from past years to get there.”
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