Spits have a Max factor
It is not easy for a fresh faced rookie to make an impact in the Ontario Hockey League. The biggest adjustment for most is going up against players who are as much as three and four years older. Having said that, one 2008 birth year skater — and born in December no less — worth keeping track of come the ’24-25 season is Spitfires forward Max Brocklehurst.
If there is such a thing as a pure goal scorer, Brocklehurst fits the description. Hailing from Bedford, Nova Scotia, the 5 foot 10, 165 pound skater starred for the under 16 level New Hampshire Mountain Kings in ’23-24 and lit it up to the tune of a league best 71 goals, 83 assists, 154 points in 58 games.
Brocklehurst was subsequently taken by Windsor in the third round of the 2024 OHL priority selections draft. He was the fourth player picked by Spitfires general manager Billy Bowler, who journeyed far to watch the lad from the eastern seaboard in action.
“As soon as I saw him play, I knew we were going to take him,” Bowler relayed to Hockey News Windsor. “We probably could have got him later in the draft. But we had all of those early picks so I thought, why wait? Nothing is ever for sure but I think Max is going to be an elite player in our league.”