Frank Corrado Named Sudbury Wolves Captain
11 years ago
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Over the past 15 months, Frank Corrado has some turned heads in the hockey world.
First the Canucks recognized his potential, drafted him, and rewarded his stellar play at training cap last September with an entry level deal. This past season, more scouts and OHL coaches began to take notice of Corrado’s smooth, effective two-way game, and named him a finalist for the Max Kaminsky trophy awarded to the OHL’s defenseman of the year. Now the Sudbury Wolves coaching staff has publicly acknowledged Corrado’s inter-personal skills, this depth of his on-ice responsibility and his leadership ability, by naming Frank Corrado their new team captain.
Read on past the jump.
Corrado becomes the second Canucks prospect this week to be named the captain of his OHL team, as it was announced just a few days ago that Brendan Gaunce (Vancouver’s 1st round pick in 2012) will captain the Belleville Bulls this season. It’s neat that the Canucks have a couple of guys in their system who are seen as leaders on their major junior clubs, but what would be even neater would have been if Corrado and Gaunce were still in Vancouver, impressing at training camp, and gearing up to test their skills against quasi-NHL competition in the preseason. Oh well…
Speaking with Ben Leeson of the Sudbury Star on Wednesday, Corrado seemed excited to be taking on a leadership role with the Wolves:
“It’s an honour. I’m very happy. It’s a privilege to be captain and it feels good to know the coaches look to you as a leader on the team.”
Corrado also got philisophical about his leadership approach:
“Balance is the key to everything,” said the 19-year-old blueliner, shortly after Wednesday’s practice. “You can’t be too one-sided with any decision, in hockey or in how you live your life. If you want to live a well-balanced life, you don’t want to have too much or too little of anything. That’s the way I’ve always tried to go about things.”
Some defenseman have a "mean streak," Frank Corrado? He’s got a "golden mean streak"… I’ll show myself out.
Anyway, it’s cool news for Corrado, who looks like a player with a shot at significantly overperforming his draft slot (150th overall in 2011).
In Sudbury this season, Corrado’s defensive stylings will be key as the Wolves try to offset the loss of last season’s leading scorer Michale Sgarbossa. So expect Corrado to receive a heavy diet of exceedingly tough minutes. He excelled in that role last season and in doing so, clearly caught the eye of the Canucks management team. This summer, in fact, Canucks Assistant General Manager Laurence Gilman selected Corrado as a "sleeper prospect" Canucks fans should keep an eye on. Gilman also described Corrado as a "dynamic" player who could "challenge to make the National Hockey League a lot sooner than most people think."
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