Voyageurs star Rinaldi commits to Dutchmen

by Ryan Fay

Anthony Rinaldi, the co-leader scorer in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, announced his commitment to Union for next season on Monday.

Rinaldi

"Proud to announce that I will be playing hockey for Union College next year! Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way," the forward tweeted.

He has a league-leading 29 goals and 25 assists in 34 games with the Kingston Voyageurs while serving as an assistant captain. His play earned him a spot on team OJHL Hawerchuk at the Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge in November. The 6-foot, 180-pounder had a pair of assists in four contests.

"He brings a lot of offense to the game," Voyageurs captain Zachary Emelifeonwu said on a recent episode of The OJ Today. "He has that sixth gear that not many players have in the league. He just blows by some defensemen. He likes to take it to the net and sneak it five hole. It definitely helps when you can just basically walk by a defenseman and get yourself a breakaway every time."

Rinaldi, 20, joined the Voyageurs following an August trade with the British Columbia Hockey League's Nanaimo Clippers. He had 22 goals and 16 assists in 53 contests with the Clippers last season. Two of his teammates were current Union freshman forwards Brendan Taylor and Cole Maier.

Prior to jumping to junior hockey, the Pierrefonds, Quebec native played two years of prep hockey at the Kent School. He had 26 goals and 20 assists in 51 career games with Kent.

The Dutchmen have been busy mining the OJHL ranks for future talent in recent months. In addition to Rinaldi, Union has snagged two other recent commitments from OJHL players: Wellington Dukes forward Luc Brown (for next season) and Oakville Blades forward Josh Kosack (2017-18).

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