Lightning High School Hockey League's Jake Richard drafted by Oshawa

The game of hockey has been a part of Jake Richard's life since the moment he could slip his two-year-old feet into a pair of skates and be pushed around the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena ice by friends and family.

When his father Gilles was the general manager of the minor league Jacksonville Barracudas, Jake would entertain the players in the locker room, dancing along to the music and joining post-practice stretches, the players adopting the toddler as one of their own.

Jake was trying to live the life of a hockey player, emulating the players he idolized.

It's a life he continues to live today.

"Some of my memories of him being around the pro game are great ones," Gilles said. "Like just seeing him with the jerseys on and having fun around the game and being able to experience a pro room at such a young age.

"He's been around the game a long time."

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Three weeks ago inside the Lakeland Ice Arena, a 15-year-old Jake and his father gathered around a big-screen tv along with arena owner/operators Paul and Nanette Granville to watch a live stream of the Ontario Hockey League's draft on YouTube.

Jake had come into his own that season playing Tier 1 hockey for the Florida Alliance club team. During a three-game November showcase in Lakeland, a scout for the OHL's Oshawa Generals watched the Alliance's first two games of the weekend.

He stuck around for their final game Sunday at 7 a.m.

My dad comes in the room and goes, 'When you see a scout there at 7 a.m. on a Sunday, you know he likes what he's seeing," Jake said. "So go out there and give it everything you got.'"

Later in February at another tournament in Detroit, the Generals' director of hockey operations Mike Kelly told Gilles they were considering drafting his son and arranged a meeting with Jake the following night. A week before the draft, Jake was told Oshawa had five of their scouts watch him in person and two more on-line and all agreed they'd like to draft him. Oshawa held a first-round pick and then didn't select again until the sixth round as they traded most of their picks to add older players and make a bid to host the 2021 Memorial Cup.

If Jake was still around in the sixth round, Oshawa would like to select him.

"It was really good to hear that and that they believed in me," Jake said.

Still, as the names flashed on the TV and Oshawa's turn drew closer, there were nerves. Maybe another player Oshawa rated higher dropped in the draft. Was all that sixth-round talk just a smoke screen?

When pick No. 113 appeared, Oshawa was true to its word.

The Generals took Jake Richard, grabbing him with their second of 13 selections in the draft.

"I don't think it'll be a moment that I'll forget," Gilles said. "Very proud moment. it was such a great relief for him for all the hard work that he's put into the game. A lot of sacrifice goes into this sport: early-morning practices, driving miles, flying miles to go and play competition, training daily, getting on the ice. It's definitely nice to be rewarded for that for him. A great moment for us both."

Oshawa counts former and current Tampa Bay Lightning greats Dave Andreychuk and Anthony Cirelli among its alumni. Cirelli scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the 2015 Memorial Cup final for the Generals' fifth Cup.

"The training facility at their rink is just unbelievable," Jake said. "Their locker rooms -- they sent me pictures and a video -- are just unreal. I spoke with Dave Andreychuk about his time there, and he was telling me a little bit about how great the city is. I can't wait to go up for training camp."

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This season, Jake added another team to his resume, suiting up for George Jenkins High School in the Lightning High School Hockey League. Jake attends virtual school, so playing with high school-aged players from his hometown was an opportunity for new friends and unique experiences.

"It was a great way to create more bonds but also a great way to build my game even more and play in a competitive league and competitive games."

The season before Jake's arrival, wins were hard to come by for George Jenkins in the LHSHL, the team going 1-20-1. With Jake on the roster along with a couple other new additions this season, the Eagles were a powerhouse. Jake recorded a remarkable 49 points in 10 games, a nearly five point a game average. George Jenkins advanced all the way to the LHSHL championship game, falling to the Seminole Sharks 7-4 in the final despite a pair of goals from Jake.

"Two big goals," Tampa Bay Lightning community hockey manager Tom Garavaglia said. "Just couldn't quite get them over the hump."

Jake is the first player from the LHSHL to be drafted into the OHL and joins an expanding list of homegrown players to continue their playing career beyond high school with an eye toward one day skating in the NHL. Nathan Smith from Mitchell High School was drafted in the third round by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2018 NHL Draft and plays collegiately for Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he earned Western Collegiate Hockey Association All-Rookie Team honors this season. His Mitchell teammate Lucas Sowder joined him at Minnesota State and also made the All-Rookie Team. That pair led Mitchell to the Combined Division title at the 2016 USA Hockey High School National Championships, the first time a team from Florida captured the crown.

"We're taking kids from our high school elite all over the country," Garavaglia said. "And when you get to these quote-unquote hockey hotbeds whether you're in Detroit, Chicago, Boston and the people see that you're from Tampa, Florida, you always get this funny look, like, 'They don't even have ice rinks in Florida.'

"And then they play us."

Goaltender Dominik Tmej played a couple seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League - like the OHL, one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues in Canada -- after guarding the net for the LHSHL's Manatee Admirals for three years.

"It's exciting to see kids down from Florida getting noticed," Garavaglia said. "Florida's starting to get put on the map thanks to kids like Jake and Nate Smith and Lucas Sowder and all those guys. And you have to give credit to the coaches that have helped these kids along the way. Obviously for Jake, his dad has been a huge help for him, playing in the Florida Alliance has been a huge help for him and given him some unique opportunities. It just starts with coaching here locally. We're very fortunate particularly here in Tampa to have so many alumni that are involved in coaching and it wouldn't shock me if you start seeing more and more scouts coming down to Florida to look at kids just based on the fact that we're dedicated to developing kids here locally."

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Despite restrictions due to the coronavirus keeping him from skating and playing currently, Jake continues to train at his Lakeland home in anticipation of joining Oshawa for their training camp in late August.

"It's kind of a rough time right now," he said. "Really just want to get back on the ice as soon as possible. But as of now, I'm just trying to go on lots of runs, stay in good shape, shoot pucks in the driveway, do sprints, push-ups, pull-ups, core, anything I can really to stay in shape."

It's that self-motivated work ethic that's made Jake one of the top prospects in Florida.

"He's the type of kid that just doesn't want to get off the ice," Garavaglia said. "He just loves being out there and having fun. We did tryouts for our elite development program last September in Lakeland. Jake asked if he could come over and skate with us. He wasn't going to try out. He was just motivated to improve on his own. He saw some of the kids were a little bit stronger and he wanted to come skate. Every night he probably was on the ice for four hours with us with different groups. He just really enjoys the game. It's rare to find that. A lot of kids will tell you that they love the game, but to have the energy to stay on the ice for four-plus hours going hard, you have to be some kind of special to be doing that."

"He's always been a lover of the game," said Gilles, who is the director of operations at the Lakeland Ice Arena, head coach of the Florida Southern University men's ice hockey team and coach of the Florida Alliance 16s. "He plays with a smile. It's a genuine smile because he's enjoying himself so much in the game."

With so many older players on the roster this season in anticipation of a Memorial Cup bid, Oshawa told Jake they anticipate sending him back to Florida after the August training camp for one more year of seasoning with the Alliance and George Jenkins. Next season, they'll bring him in permanently with players more his age.

Dave Andreychuk thought the same thing when he headed to his first training camp with Oshawa 40 years ago. He expected to train over the weekend, and he'd be home by Monday.

He stayed the whole year.

With his work ethic and passion for the game, Garavaglia thinks Jake might also force Oshawa management into some difficult decisions and perhaps a change of plans.

"Let's see what happens when he gets to camp," Garavaglia said. "Despite the fact he can't get on the ice right now with everything going on, I know he's continuing to work out and get himself ready to go. I think he's going to put himself in the best position possible to succeed and make the team this year. I hope he makes the team this year. I'd love to watch him."