OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Select 14 Players in OHL Priority Selection

April 6, 2020 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Flint, Mich. - The Flint Firebirds Hockey Club, coming off their winningest-season in franchise history, selected 14 players in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection, presented by Real Canadian Superstore, held Saturday, Apr. 4.

The Firebirds set six franchise-records this year after recording the most points in a season (82), most wins (40), most home wins (20), most road wins (20), most goals for (274) and longest winning-streak (15 consecutive games), which was the second-longest in the OHL last season by five games.

Of the 14 new faces added to the Firebirds' organization, the club selected six forwards, seven defenseman and one goaltender.

The Firebirds selected nine Canadians and five Americans, including four players from the Detroit Compuware AAA Hockey Club, a record amount of players selected in one draft from one youth organization by the Firebirds.

For the first time in franchise history, the Firebirds selected an American, when the club chose Michigan-born forward Gavin Hayes. Hayes hails from Westland, Mich, which is one-hour south of Flint.

Hayes lead the prestigious High-Performance Hockey League (HPHL) in both goals (16) and points (33) in just 21 league games with the Detroit Compuware U15 AAA hockey team this year. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound skater placed third among more than 630 players at the U15 World Selects Invitational in Philadelphia, Penn. last June, recording 16 points (6G, 10A) in just nine games with Team East Coast Selects. In July, he was selected among the best American-born hockey players to compete at the renowned 2019 USA Hockey Boys Select 15 Player Development Camp in Amherst, New York. Hayes was tabbed as an assistant captain for the last two consecutive years with Compuware. He also tallied an impressive nine points in five games at the 2019 Chipotle-USA Hockey Youth Tier I 14U National Championships in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Flint then selected Aaron Brown in the third-round, 52nd overall. The Belleville, Ont. native played his youth hockey for the Quinte Red Devils AAA Hockey Team in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association-Eastern Toronto Area (OMHA-ETA). Brown played an integral role in leading the Red Devils to back-to-back OMHA championships, including a top-four finish in three of the major four tournaments, while also placing among the top three defenders in points in three of the top four major tournaments this past season at the Minor Midget level. A 6-foot-1, 164-pound left defenseman, Brown recorded 49 points (14G, 35A) including 40 penalty minutes in 67 games with the Red Devils last season.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 6, 2020


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