With the Ontario Hockey League playoffs around the corner, to say Morgan Frost and his Soo Greyhounds teammates would love nothing more than a long playoff run would be an understatement.
The Greyhounds are set to wrap up the regular season Sunday and for Frost, it wraps up his fourth regular season with the club.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Frost said. “Getting accustomed to the league in my first three years, this fourth year, you’re so settled in that it’s more about enjoying my time, having fun and helping the team win. This has been the most fun I’ve had in my four years.”
Frost said four seasons in Sault Ste. Marie have brought him “way too may memories to account for.”
“I’ve made some great friendships and there are some really great people in the organization,” Frost said. “Winning the western conference and going to the OHL final last year was huge for me. Some of the things I’ll never forget are some of the older guys when I was a 16- and 17-year-old player. Just the way they treated me. I made so many friends from that.”
Heading into the final day of the OHL regular season on Sunday, Frost reflected on a season that saw the Greyhounds post a 43-16-7-1 record to finish second in the OHL’s West Division.
“It’s being a Greyhound,” Frost said when asked what’s made the team successful this season. “We take so much pride in being a Greyhound and it’s such a good organization. It does such a good job developing players. It’s hard for there to be a rebuild year because they’re always bringing in good players, developing good players and getting draft steals.”
“Once we settled in and realized what the young guys were capable of and built confidence as an older group, we knew what we were capable of and wanted to prove everyone wrong,” Frost added.
The veteran forward spoke highly of the Greyhounds coaching staff saying that “I’ve enjoyed my time with them so much and it sucks that they came in in my fourth year. I wish I could be coming back to them next year.”
John Dean took over last summer to replace Drew Bannister, who moved on to coach pro hockey with the American Hockey League’s San Antonio Rampage.
The Greyhounds coaching staff also saw two other new faces join as Sault native Jordan Smith was named associate coach and Jamie Tardif was named assistant coach, replacing Joe Cirella and Ryan Ward, who also moved up to pro hockey.
“There aren’t enough good things I can say about them (Dean, Smith, and Tardif),” Frost said. “They’ve done so much for us. They made me such a better person and matured me. That’s the one thing that I’ll always remember. There’s the stuff on the ice that they’ve taught me but the way they are off the ice and how they handle players, the respect that they have for the players is really eye-catching.”
On Saturday, Frost was named the Greyhounds MVP as the team honoured its players on the eve of the final day of the OHL regular season.
Other award winners on Saturday included:
- Ryan O’Rourke (Rookie of the Year)
- Ryan Roth (Most Gentlemanly Player)
- Cole MacKay (Most Improved Player, Scholastic Player of the Year)
- Mac Hollowell (Best Defenceman)
- Tye Kartye (Player’s Player)
- Keeghan Howdeshell (Red Star Three Star Award)
- Matthew Villalta (Unsung Hero)
- Brett Jacklin (Humanitarian Award)
The Greyhounds wrap up regular season action on Sunday afternoon at home against the Saginaw spirit. Puck drop at the GFL Memorial Gardens is set for 2:07 p.m.
The Greyhounds will open the OHL playoffs on Thursday night at home against the Owen Sound Attack.