West Shore hockey product Dysin Mayo celebrated a Memorial Cup victory Sunday with his Edmonton Oil Kings.
His team’s 6-3 victory over the Guelph Storm in the major junior championship final in London, Ont. was the first of two honours the young defenceman may accrue this spring.
Mayo, who turns 18 in August, is ranked high on the National Hockey League’s Central Scouting list for the 2014 amateur draft.
The blueliner, who tallied seven goals and added 28 assists for 35 points in 63 Western Hockey League regular season games this season, is rated No. 82 among North American skaters on the final list. Among North American defencemen, he’s rated 26th.
Victoria Grizzlies’ head coach Craig Didmon, who coached Mayo in Grade 7 and 8 at SD62 West Shore Hockey Academy when Mayo was at Spencer middle school, sees a bright future for him.
“What I knew about him then was that he was skilled, but he was also very mature in terms of his commitment to the game,” Didmon said. “He never took a shift off, or a practice.”
Among Mayo’s teammates at the academy was the Grizzlies’ Alec Dillon, the No. 13-ranked North American goaltender eligible for the NHL draft.
Factoring in the influx of draft-eligible Europeans, and considering Mayo’s post-season performance – he collected 16 points in 26 games – he and Dillon could possibly be selected anywhere between the third and fifth round, Didmon said.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com