Rylett may see action
Wednesday May 7 2008
Jon Kuiperij
CORNWALL – Craig Rylett's breakthrough season keeps getting better.
The 16-year-old Georgetown resident, coming off what he described as
"the best season I ever had" with the Mississauga midget AAA IceDogs,
is now at the national junior A championships with the Oakville
Blades.
Rylett got the call to join the team during last month's Dudley Hewitt
Cup (the Central Canada championship tournament) after Oakville
starting goalie Scott Greenham stopped playing for the Blades in order
to maintain his full NCAA eligibility. Rylett backed up Oliver Wren
during the final two games of the tournament, including the Blades'
6-3 win over Newmarket in the Dudley final, and is now the
second-string netminder at the RBC Royal Bank Cup.
"Wow. Just a huge step up from midget," said Rylett, who was selected
in the seventh round of last year's OHL draft by the Sudbury Wolves.
"It's been just unbelievable. I'm the new guy, but they're accepting
me as an equal. It's just a great feeling being here."
Oakville has lost its first two games at the tournament, falling 5-4
to the host Cornwall Colts Sunday and then dropping a 4-3 overtime
decision to the Maritime representative Weeks Crushers Monday. With
the Blades likely needing to win their next two contests in order to
qualify for the semifinal round, there is a possibility that Oakville
head coach Carlo Coccimiglio might replace Wren with Rylett for
today‘s (Wednesday's) game against the second-ranked Humboldt Broncos.
"We've put Ollie under a lot of pressure, and he's doing the best he
can right now. We might give Rylett a chance to play," Coccimiglio
said Monday. "We've got confidence in him also. Anything's possible."
Rylett would obviously welcome the chance to play, but said he is
pulling for Wren and the Blades to turn things around.
"Right now, they're obviously struggling. But I know they'll pick it
up huge and I know that Ollie will bounce back huge," said Rylett, who
is roommates with Wren during the tournament. "He's a great goalie. I
know he's got it in him and the boys are going to come out huge
against Humboldt."
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