OHL Draft Preview: Bonisteel possesses intriguing physical tools
Count Ben Bonisteel among hundreds of Ontario teenagers hoping to hear their names being called during this Saturday’s Ontario Hockey League draft.
“It’s the best hockey around and it has been a goal of mine for a long time,” the 15-year-old Fenwick resident said. “To see it come to fruition would be special.”
Like any hockey player in Ontario, suiting up in the OHL has always been in the back of his mind, but it moved to the forefront a few years ago.
“Last year I learned more about it and, this year, it has obviously been big.”
Leading up to Saturday’s draft, Bonisteel has spoken to about 10 teams.
“It’s pretty hit and miss, but I am hoping it goes well,” said the Grade 10 student at E.L. Crossley Secondary School. “Either way for me, it’s not the end of my hockey career. If I get drafted, that’s great and I have an in on one team. But that’s not the only way to play at the highest level possible like pro or the NHL.”
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound goalie feels that drafting goalies is a different animal compared to the selection of position players.
“For the other players, there are a lot of stats kept, but for goalies, there are stats kept but they aren’t nearly as accurate,” he said. “And goalies take longer to develop too.”
Bonisteel feels he had made significant strides in his game over the past few seasons.
“I have worked a lot with different goalie coaches on ice and off the ice,” he said, “I face a lot of older shots (from older players) so I think I am more game ready for the next level.
“I have also improved the technical abilities of my post play and being able to play different ways at different points in the game.”
Bonisteel played rep hockey in Pelham at the minor novice level before moving to the Southern Tier Admirals AAA organization in 2011. He has played the last eight years with the Admirals from major novice to minor midget.
This past season in 17 games with the Admirals, he posted a 3.86 goals against average, an .826 save percentage and two shutouts.
One scouting website described Bonisteel as a big-bodied goaltender who possesses intriguing physical tools while another said he was a big body and aggressive on his angles.
Last weekend, he was the only local goalie and one of 16 goaltenders overall invited to the OHL Draft Combine.
“It was unbelievable and really incredible,” he said.
He and other goalies went through off-ice testing, which measured such things as vertical jump and the Wingate test. After the testing, each goalie played a 25-minute half of a game, which included 15 minutes of five-on-five play and then 10 minutes of three-on-three action. Bonisteel felt he fared well, allowing two goals during the three-on-three portion of his goaltending stint.
“I felt pretty good and I thought I had a really good game.”
This Saturday, Bonisteel plans to hook his laptop up to the TV and watch the draft with his family.
“If I get drafted, mid-rounds, later rounds or not at all, then the chances are that I won’t be playing on the team this year. They will have their goalies picked already,” he said.
“For me, my goal is to make a team this year and if that (OHL) doesn’t happen, I will have to realign and get focused on my next set of goals.”
Bonisteel has already had a taste of junior hockey, serving as a backup one game for the Thorold Blackhawks this past season and practising with the junior B squad three or four times a week.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “The junior hockey atmosphere is so much different than minor hockey and just to have that background to go into training camps with different teams next year, it just sets me up that much more.”
He has lofty, long-term goals for his hockey career.
“Obviously I want to play in the NHL, become one of the best goalies I can, and see how far it can take me.”
