{"id":12102,"date":"2015-09-30T17:01:23","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T21:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=12102"},"modified":"2015-10-14T21:36:20","modified_gmt":"2015-10-15T01:36:20","slug":"york-simcoe-express-alumni-debuts-with-ohls-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/york-simcoe-express-alumni-debuts-with-ohls-knights\/","title":{"rendered":"York Simcoe Express alumni debuts with OHL\u2019s Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jake Courtepatte<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barely sixteen years old, centreman Robert Thomas already has London Knights head coach Dale Hunter smiling. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy to have a centreman with his speed,\u201d said Hunter in a press conference in April. \u201cThe game has changed and it\u2019s guys like him that will flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n

At just 5\u20199\u201d, 165 lbs, the Aurora native doesn\u2019t dominate physically. However, his natural goal scoring ability has Hunter, and others in the junior hockey community, already making comparisons to guys like Sam Gagner and Patrick Kane. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got the ability to make something out of nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas was the Knights\u2019 second round selection (26th overall) in this year\u2019s OHL entry draft. He impressed the Knights brass late this summer in training camp, even notching a goal in pre-season action against the Erie Otters a few weeks ago. So far, it\u2019s been enough to warrant him a spot on the regular season roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just have to keep working hard and playing the game I know I can play,\u201d said Thomas. \u201cThe hockey is so intense, I think it just motivates you to really play your best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always lots of pressure but you try and use it positively,\u201d he said. \u201cI just really want to develop myself and get used to the playing style in the OHL because it\u2019s a lot faster and bigger. It\u2019s up to me to really decide how much I really want it. I think if I work hard I can accomplish my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was a key cog last year with the York-Simcoe Express minor midget AAA team, notching 45 points in only 38 games. With the Express, he won OMHA bronze in 2009, OMHA gold in 2013, and OMHA silver in 2014. <\/p>\n

Locally, Thomas has been a multi-sport athlete at St. Andrew\u2019s College, lettering in varsity volleyball, lacrosse and golf as well as the touted U16 hockey program. <\/p>\n

He gives credit to these other endeavors in helping him hone his unique hockey skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething like lacrosse really helps with your hand-eye coordination, or golf, and you can translate it from one sport to another. It\u2019s all relevant.\u201d <\/p>\n

Thomas will be eligible for the 2017 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s every hockey player\u2019s goal, and I\u2019m hoping to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barely sixteen years old, centreman Robert Thomas already has London Knights head coach Dale Hunter smiling. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/2015-10-01-09.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-39c","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-02 04:21:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}