Tag Archives: Kingston Frontenacs

Jason Robertson and Nick Suzuki go from big trade pieces to pivotal players at IIHF World Junior Championship

25 Tuesday Dec 2018

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Left wing Jason Robertson and center Nick Suzuki have been big deals this hockey season – both on and off the ice.

Dallas Stars forward prospect Jason Robertson.

Robertson, a Dallas Stars 2017 second-round draft pick, was the centerpiece of a major trade in November that sent him from the Kingston Frontenacs to the Niagara IceDogs, both major junior teams in the Ontario Hockey League.

Suzuki, a Vegas Golden Knights first-round draft pick in 2017, was a key piece in the shocking September deal that shipped Montreal Canadiens left wing and team captain Max Pacioretty to Las Vegas.

Both Robertson and Suzuki are expected to be in the thick of things for Team U.S.A. and Team Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Vancouver.

The 10-nation tournament begins Wednesday, December 26, and concludes January 5.  The NHL Network will televise games in the United States and Canada’s TSN will carry every game on its media platforms.

Team USA – 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on December 25, 2019 in Victoria, BC Canada. (Photo/Images On Ice/IIHF).

Robertson and Suzuki are sure to catch the attention of viewers. Robertson, who is of Filipino heritage, is the OHL’s second-leading scorer with 60 points – 31 goals and 29 assists in 32 regular season games with the Frontenacs and IceDogs.

Left wing Jason Robertson was traded from the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs to the Niagara IceDogs (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

The 19-year-old Northville, Michigan, resident’s 31 goals are third-best in the OHL. His 13 power play goals are a league best.

Robertson responded to his trade from Kingston to Niagara Falls by tallying 3 goals and 7 assists in his first three games with the IceDogs.

Center Nick Suzuki was drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 but traded to Montreal in September.

“The Dallas Stars pick has great puck protection abilities and an elite goal-scoring touch, which explains why he’s one of the top producers in the league this year,” The Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy wrote of Robertson in November.

Suzuki, an Ontario native whose great-great grandparents immigrated to Canada from Japan in the 1900s, is having a solid OHL season with the Owen Sound Attack.

The team captain is the Attack’s second-leading scorer with 20 goals and 23 assists in 28 regular season games. He’s the OHL’s 12th-leading scorer.

“He’s got offensive flair where he can be a No.1 power play guy for you,” Owen Sound Head Coach Todd Gill told The Toronto Sun earlier this month. “He’s got every tool in the box, and he has the ability to just make everyone around him better because of his talent.”

Center Nick Suzuki, a Montreal Canadiens prospect, represents Canada at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver (Photo/Matthew Murnaghan/Hockey Canada Images).

Suzuki, 19, and Team Canada begin their quest for a second consecutive IIHF world juniors gold medal Wednesday against Denmark. Robertson’s Team U.S.A. looks to improve upon the bronze medal won in 2018 when it opens the 2019 tournament against Slovakia Wednesday.

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RV rides in L.A. help drive Jason Robertson to 2nd-round pick in NHL Draft

24 Saturday Jun 2017

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CHICAGO – Jason Robertson’s thoughts went to the family RV when the Dallas Stars called his name and made him the 39th overall pick in the 2017 National Hockey League Draft on Saturday.

Dallas Stars draftee Jason Robertson.

Robertson was a California kid – he and his brothers began seriously playing the game because his father and grandfather were Los Angeles Kings season ticket holders.

With L.A. being L.A. with its traffic jams and with three kids with different practice times, the Robertsons used an recreational vehicle that served as a mobile command center that ferried kids to practice, served as a classroom, and a locker room on wheels.

“We had a big RV,” said Robertson, who is of Filipino heritage. “The rink in Los Angeles, with traffic, was probably an hour and a half away. My little brother and older brother play hockey so their practices would be at 3 and mine would be at 6. We’d all go at 3 o’clock and wait for my practice at 6.”

Jason Roberston grew up playing hockey in Los Angeles, Detroit, Tonroto and Kingston, Ont. He hopes Dallas is the next stop (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

The journeys in the RV, and playing  youth hockey in Detroit and Toronto, paid off with Robertson being taken in the second round by the Stars after his stellar season for the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League.

The 6-foot-2 left wing for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs led the team in scoring in 2016-17 with 42 goals and 39 assists in 68 regular season games and tallied 5 goals and 13 assists in 11 OHL playoff games.

The NHL’s Central Scouting ranked Robertson as the 14th-best North American skater eligible for the draft. Scouts predicted that he could go anywhere from a late first-round pick to anywhere in the second or third rounds.

Hockey people gush over his scoring hands and hockey intelligence, but have concerns about his skating ability. They note that it takes too many strides for him to reach top speed.

“It’s something that people say – everyone needs to work on something,” he said. “Obviously, for me, I need to work on that. It’s an opportunity to get better.”

If Robertson reaches the NHL, he would join Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba as the latest players of Filipino descent to play in the league.

“It’s nice to see the diversity,” said Robertson, whose mother was born in the Philippines. “It was nice to see the guys picked ahead of me that have different ethnicites. It’s really special to have more guys coming in.”

And Robertson and Dumba could someday be joined by Robertson’s younger brother, Nick, a forward chosen by the OHL’s Peterborough Petes in  the 2017 OHL Priority Selection draft April. He signed a contract to play with the Petes in May.

Jason said his younger brother is a good player,  but he makes no bones about who is the better Robertson on the ice.

“I normally dressed my little brother up as a goalie and ripped five-hole on him,” the older Robertson said with a laugh.

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