Sean Day: “I’m prepared to go anywhere and I’ll play anywhere that takes me”

By Matt Mackinder –

He was born in Belgium, has a Canadian passport, but lives in Rochester and has grown up playing his youth hockey in the Detroit area.

And Sean Day is fast-tracking his way to the Ontario Hockey League.

Day, a 6-foot-2, 197-pound defenseman who played this season for the Compuware Minor Midget team, was granted “exceptional player” status this week by Hockey Canada to play in the OHL next season as a 15-year-old. Day, who only turned 15 on Jan. 9, will now be eligible to be drafted during the OHL Priority Selection of primarily 1997 birth year players on April 6.

This past season with Compuware, Day scored 11 goals and added 24 assists for 35 points in 63 games with a plus-47 rating before his team was eliminated from the state playoffs earlier than expected.

Day becomes the fourth player to be granted “exceptional player” status following Connor McDavid, who went first overall to Erie last year, Aaron Ekblad, who was taken No. 1 by Barrie in 2011, and John Tavares in 2005 by Oshawa with the top pick.

“I’m really happy,” said Day. “Really relieved about the decision.”

Day gave credit to the Compuware organization for helping to prepare him for this situation.

“I enjoyed (the 2012-13 season),” Day said. “There was a lot of top players on our team that have college commitments and some that are going to the NTDP next year, so playing with high-level players is good. We played good teams and always had competition. This was also the first year I had defensive coaching to help improve my game all around.”

The Ottawa 67’s hold the No. 1 overall pick in the draft for the first time since 1993 when Alyn McCauley went first overall. That said, according to the Ottawa Citizen, there is no guarantee the 67’s will even take Day with the top pick.

“We have to make the best choice for our team and we are going to do that,” said Ottawa coach-GM Chris Byrne. “We continue to do our due diligence and when the time is right to announce the name of our pick, we will do that, too.”

Day said playing for the 67’s is certainly an option.

“For me, I’m prepared to go anywhere and I’ll play anywhere that takes me,” said Day. “The point of getting this (“exceptional player” status) was to play in the OHL, not to get a certain spot on a team. Going that far (to Ottawa) to play hockey, I’m fine with that.”

“Sean said his goal is to play in the OHL,” said Keith Day, Sean’s father. “Location is not the primary driver.”

Once he suits up in the OHL next year, Day said his No. 1 priority is simple.

“Just to play,” said Day. “I’m not looking to score goals or anything. I’m just looking to help out a team. Other than that, I’m not looking to do anything special except play and help out the team.”

Day also said that applying for the “exceptional player” status didn’t even come up as an option until late in 2012.

“It was right after Silver Sticks ended and I guess there was a lot of talk about me being a top-end player and from there, I started thinking about (applying),” Day said. “I talked to my advisor (Jason Woolley) for a while before considering it and then in February, we applied and it kind of went from there.”

Once the process began with Hockey Canada to determine if Day was physically, emotionally and mentally ready to play with and against players five years older than him, Day said it was “the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.”

“There are so many tests and they get you at every angle,” explained Day. “It shows what kind of a player you are and what kind of a person you are off the ice and on the ice. I’m just happy with how it turned out.

“In some ways, (getting the status) did surprise me because of some of the rumors going around and how many people were saying I shouldn’t get it, but in the back of my head, I knew I could get it and I felt that I could get it. I just have to be the way I am and if I wasn’t the way I am, I don’t think I would have gotten it.”