POWASSAN, Ont. – The Powassan Voodoos of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League announced Friday that forward Dylan D’Agostino has committed to the Nipissing Lakers OUA/USPORTS program for the 2021-22 season.
The North Bay product won a championship with the Powassan Voodoos in 2017 and returned to the area in the summer of 2020 in anticipation of playing out his junior eligibility at home with the Voodoos.
The speedy forward trained and scrimmaged with the Voodoos in the fall of 2020 until January 2021, when the team took a leave of absence due to an inability to play games in the Powassan Sportsplex due to local COVID-19 restrictions.
The former North Bay AAA Trappers standout had two impressive campaigns with the Voodoos, recording a total of 36 goals and 30 assists, along with 17 playoff games where he tallied five goals and one assist.
D’Agostino went on to play parts of two seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League and had a very strong season with the Caledonia Corvairs where he had 13 goals, 16 assists and 29 points in 29 games in 2019-20.
He is looking forward to jumping into the OUA/USPORTS and joining the Lakers.
“My expectations for the team is to be competitive in the playoffs. Being able to continue my hockey career and further my education in my hometown with the Lakers is a tremendous honour,” the forward said.
“I can’t wait to get started and work with coach McParland who has a great deal of knowledge and experience.”
D’Agostino, who will be enrolling in criminal justice at Nipissing, believes his strengths are playing both ends of the ice and contributing offensively and defensively.
“I am a two-way forward who uses my skating ability, vision and speed. I am dependable in the D-zone and can contribute offensively,” he explained.
“My career in Junior, having played for three quality organizations including the Voodoos, has molded me into a dependable and reliable player with a team-first mentality.”
Chris Dawson, Voodoos GM, is thrilled to see another Voodoos alum play hockey at the next level joining former teammates Parker Bowman and Cameron Moore with the Lakers.
“Dylan is another Voodoos success story and we are proud of him,” stated Dawson.
“We saw Dylan come out of midget and net 20 goals as a 16-year-old in our championship year and then saw him make the jump to the OHL.”
Lakers head coach Mike McParland believes D’Agostino has what it takes to play USport Hockey.
“With Dylan, a local student-athlete who will have an opportunity to continue to develop. We hope that we can help Dylan develop into a player that in time will be a key contributor for us,” McParland said.