Joey Payeur
One skate up and one skate down, that is the way to London Town.
The classic nursery rhyme, with some hockey-themed paraphrasing, applies to former Muskie Cole Tymkin after he was selected in the fifth round (91st overall) by the London Knights in Saturday’s OHL draft.
Tymkin spent Sunday night watching his new team lose 5-1 to the Erie Otters to trail 3-0 in their Western Conference quarter-final series.
But that didn’t diminish the euphoria still filling his body after reaching a major milestone in his hockey journey.
“It’s a hard feeling to explain,” said Tymkin, who left the Muskie boys’ team after his Grade 9 season to spend this past year with the Minor Midget-level Thunder Bay C & D Sports Kings, where he racked up 64 points in 49 games.
“To get drafted by one of the top organizations in not only the OHL but the CHL is amazing,” he added.
Tymkin was in Thunder Bay for a 3-on-3 tournament over the weekend and got the good news after a somewhat painstaking wait.
“We were watching the podcast at my billet’s house in Thunder Bay through the first two rounds, as I was hoping to go by then,” recounted the fast, physical forward.
“I had a game at noon so we started driving to the arena, and my dad was reading to me off the Internet who is going and in what rounds,” he added.
“We get to the rink and I just get in the dressing room, and Dad walks in with his cellphone and shows me ‘Cole Tymkin to London Knights.’
“It was nice to get to celebrate with family and with all the guys on my team there, too.”
The Knights got wind of Tymkin’s skills through one of their head scouts, Stewart Robinson, who also was on the Kings’ coaching staff this past season.
“It was definitely in my mind that I would like to go to London,” said Tymkin.
“If I got picked in the first, fifth, 10th, or 15th round, it didn’t matter,” he stressed.
“It was just an honour to be drafted.
“London is an organization everyone wants to go to because so many guys from the organization have gone on to the NHL,” Tymkin added.
That list isn’t starved for impressive names, with the likes of NHL all-stars Patrick Kane (Chicago), John Tavares (N.Y. Islanders), and Rick Nash (N.Y. Rangers) having made the leap from London to the big time, along with Toronto Maple Leafs’ legend Darryl Sittler.
Another NHL’er of the past will be the one making the final decision on whether Tymkin makes the cut as a 16-year-old come the fall.
Dale Hunter had a goal scorer’s touch and a grinder’s mentality in his 20 seasons as a forward split between the Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals, and Colorado Avalanche.
“[Hunter] has a lot of experience and can help anyone,” noted Tymkin.
“I hope to learn a lot from him, not only about the game but how to be a classy OHL player off the ice, too.”
The Knights currently have two of the brightest young NHL prospects on their roster in Arizona Coyotes’ draft pick and Canadian junior team standout Max Domi and Mitch Marner.
The latter is draft eligible this year and was second in the OHL in scoring this season.
“I don’t know if Domi will even be there or up in the NHL by next season,” admitted Tymkin.
“But it would be sweet to be on the ice with him at the same time,” he added.
“It would be sweet just to say I tried out for the same team as him.”
Tymkin, who will attend the Knights’ rookie camp April 24-25, pocketed another achievement yesterday when he was named to Team Hockey Northwestern Ontario for the upcoming OHL Gold Cup tournament from May 7-10 in Kitchener.
