Singer makes good on second attempt at OHL draft

[Port hockey1]

By Bernie Puchalski
Monday, April 11, 2016 5:03:09 EDT PM


ST. CATHARINES - What a difference a year makes for Danial Singer.



Last year, the 17-year-old St. Catharines native waited out the entire Ontario Hockey League draft without being selected.

On Saturday, his long wait finally ended when he was selected 153rd overall in the eighth round by the hometown Niagara IceDogs.

“I kept my phone on all day and I saw that Niagara had picked my name,” he said.

“The first thing I did is call my mom (Sheila Carr) and thank her, and then I called my dad (Duane Singer) and thanked him for everything he did. I had the biggest smile on my face.”

After not being selected last season, Singer joined the Fort Erie Meteors of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Golden Horseshoe Conference and had an excellent junior B season. He had 31 goals and 57 points during the regular season, then scored five times in five playoff games.

“Not being drafted last year was a motivational thing for me,” the Grade 11 student at St. Francis said. “It got me to push harder to prove everyone and show that I should have been drafted. Compared to then, it’s unbelievable. I feel great right now.”

The 5-foot-7, 155-pound forward felt like he made great strides this past season with the Meteors.

“Playing bigger kids it was faster, heads-up hockey,” he said. “The speed of the game totally changed, and I had to work on that.”

Being drafted by the IceDogs is one more chance to prove everyone wrong — albeit at a much higher level.

“I want to go out there and prove that I can play in the OHL,” he said.

He is going to get his chance.

“You don’t draft a 99 (1999 birth date) if you don’t think he can make your hockey team,” IceDogs head coach/GM Marty Williamson said. “He was the rookie of the year in the junior B league and we think he can step in and help.”

Williamson believes Singer wasn’t selected in his draft year due to his smaller stature.

“He is one of those guys who has kept improving himself; no one argued his skill, but size was a factor,” he said. “He was playing against 20-year-olds and size wasn’t a factor.”

Without a ton of draft picks to play with, the IceDogs signalled they were serious about Singer by picking him in the eighth round.

“We didn’t want to miss out on him,” Williamson said. “We knew other teams were interested, and we wanted to get him.”

[BRIAN RIZZETTO]

THIS IS A GOOD STORY,I WATCHED THE DRAFT ON SATURDAY VERY CLOSELY(AS I ALWAYS DO) I WAS SUPRISED WITH A FEW PICKS,BUT NOT SINGER....I THINK THE ICEDOGS MADE A GREAT PICK IN THE 8TH ROUND GETTING HIM- THE KID JUST GOT BETTER AND BETTER AS THE YEAR WENT ON-I ALONG WITH MARTY FEEL THIS KID CAN EARN A SPOT IN THE OHL(AND I HOPE HE DOES...FORT ERIE DID A GOOD JOB GIVING THE KID HIS ICE SO HE COULD IMPROVE...HE WAS ALSO A NO BRAINER FOR MY ROOKIE OF THE YEAR VOTE.

[GOJHLfan1]

THIS IS A GOOD STORY,I WATCHED THE DRAFT ON SATURDAY VERY CLOSELY(AS I ALWAYS DO) I WAS SUPRISED WITH A FEW PICKS,BUT NOT SINGER....I THINK THE ICEDOGS MADE A GREAT PICK IN THE 8TH ROUND GETTING HIM- THE KID JUST GOT BETTER AND BETTER AS THE YEAR WENT ON-I ALONG WITH MARTY FEEL THIS KID CAN EARN A SPOT IN THE OHL(AND I HOPE HE DOES...FORT ERIE DID A GOOD JOB GIVING THE KID HIS ICE SO HE COULD IMPROVE...HE WAS ALSO A NO BRAINER FOR MY ROOKIE OF THE YEAR VOTE.

I agree, he had one heck of a year for Fort Erie. Steal for the Dogs in round 8