Fresh off helping the Summerland Steam earn a 6-5 overtime win over the Osoyoos Coyotes in the KIJHL’s second round of the playoffs, Grayson Chell got a call that made him very happy.
The call came from the Virden Oil Capitals of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League saying they wanted to sign him to a letter of intent.
“I was pretty excited,” said the rookie forward, who has always wanted to play Junior A hockey and now will, close to his home of Onion Lake, Saskatchewan.
The six-foot, 180-pound forward led the Steam in goals with 24 in 38 games and added 15 assists. In the playoffs, Chell had five points in 10 games.
“I thought I played pretty good. I was surprised with the amount of goals I put up because normally I wasn’t a goal-scorer,” said Chell. “It sort of clicked and I put up all these points. It was a pretty good year, I enjoyed it.”
Chell, who turns 19 in August, credited his hard work over the summer to improve his shot as one of the reasons he had a good season. He also credited his teammates and Steam Head Coach Mark MacMillan. During the season Chell saw improvement in his confidence and skating ability.
In their announcement on the signing, the Capitals said they were looking to add an “older guy that has some junior experience.”
“Grayson fits that description and we also like that he has shown an ability to create offence at the junior level. He is a guy that can play more than one style of game, and we are excited to add him to our roster for next season,” said Oil Capitals Head Coach Tyson Ramsey.