London Knights forward Denver Barkey has been named the 53rd captain in franchise history.
He will be flanked by four assistant captains in forwards Jacob Julian, Easton Cowan and Landon Sim and defenceman Oliver Bonk.
All five players have been key parts of playoff runs that have seen the Knights make back-to-back appearances in the OHL Championship series.
London lost in six games to the Peterborough Petes in 2023 and then returned to be crowned champions in 2024 when they defeated the Oshawa Generals in four straight games.
The Knights advanced to the Memorial Cup and made it all the way to the final and that experience and success runs throughout this year’s roster.
“We like to do a team vote and really involve the players who are there every day,” said Knights associate general manager Rob Simpson. “It’s a good thing when you get your leadership sorted out. There can be a lot of questions as to who it is going to be so once you get that established then you can just move on and focus on playing hockey.”
Barkey was selected by London in the first round of the 2021 OHL Priority Selection.
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He led the Knights in scoring and believes the leaders on the team right now have the ability to help compete for another championship.
“I think we’re all ready. We’ve been through the playoffs and have the experience of winning a championship and then coming up short,” explained Barkey.
“We’ve been through the process and can teach the younger guys a lot when it comes to what it takes to win. We’re just going to put our best foot forward and show what we can do.”
The announcement of the team’s leadership group was one of several moves made by the team on Oct. 16.
London began the season with four overagers (20-year olds) on their roster. A team can only use three in a game and eventually can only have three on their roster following a grace period under the leagues rules to allow teams to sort out their specific situations.
The Knights added overage goalie Austin Elliott in a trade with the Barrie Colts which briefly gave them five overage players.
To get down to three, London had to release goaltender Owen Willmore and defenceman Alec Leonard.
“Obviously we had some tough conversations with Alec Leonard and Owen Willmore,” admitted Simpson. “We won an OHL title with them and both played key parts in it so it’s never easy to have to move on in that situation. Overage spots are just such coveted positions.”
Elliott has played the past three season with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League.
The Knights and Blades play in two of the biggest venues in all of major junior hockey and play in front of very passionate fan bases and Simpson says those two things were factors in the decision to bring Elliott to London.
“Austin has been in playoff rounds. He is used to playing in front of 10 or 12 thousand people,” Simpson described. “It is a pressure cooker in London… you saw it with Michael Simpson last year. It takes a lot for you to be good every game.”
Elliott will take part in his first practice with the Knights on Thursday, Oct. 17.
London will host the Saginaw Spirit on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., at Canada Life Place.
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