Looking to get stronger, Chitaroni preparing for first OHL training camp

He’s one step closer to playing in the Ontario Hockey League and his training isn’t changing much, if at all, as he prepares for his first training camp in the fall.

Sault Ste. Marie’s Mason Chitaroni was selected in the fifth round of the OHL Priority Selection earlier this month by the London Knights.

With gyms shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chitaroni is making due as he prepares for London’s camp in the fall.

“I have a home gym, so I can still do all of the stuff that I would normally do,” Chitaroni said. “I’m trying to really get my strength to where it needs to be and work a lot more on my flexibility and stretching is more of what I’m focusing on right now.”

With the draft behind him, Chitaroni is looking ahead like most players and improving his game to make the jump from major midget with the Soo Jr. Greyhounds into major junior hockey with the Knights.

“Definitely my strength, but everything has got room for improvement,” Chitaroni said. “I have to get everything to the next level to be able to play at the OHL level. I’m just going to try to work on that every day. We’ve got more than enough time right now, so I have to use it.”

Prior to the draft, Chitaroni spoke of his skating being the biggest strength in his game.

“I’ve been working on it a lot and it’s really improved,” Chitaroni said at the time,” especially as my confidence grew as a player throughout the year.”

Jamie Henderson, Chitaroni’s coach with the Jr. Greyhounds, called the young defenceman “probably one of the biggest risers in Ontario the last two or three months” prior to the draft.

“Mason’s game has grown leaps and bounds,” Henderson said. “His confidence really grew in the second half of the season and you could see that trend on the ice. He really makes some good decisions with the puck and is pretty willing to engage physically in the defensive zone. His skating is world class and it really helps him get out of some trouble and get back to get the puck to the forwards. That’s his strength is getting back and getting pucks to forwards.”

Chitaroni finished the season with six goals and 19 points in 38 regular season games and also got into three games with the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Blind River Beavers.

The 15-year-old called being drafted by the Knights “amazing.”

“It’s one of the best organizations in the entire CHL,” Chitaroni said. “Getting drafted by them was more amazing than ever. They take things very seriously and they do things really well. That’s why they’re one of the best. Development-wise, I couldn’t have gone to a better place.”

What was the draft like for Chitaroni?

“I was sitting on my couch and saw my name pop up and I jumped up and started running around,” Chitaroni said of the moment he was selected. “I gave my dad a hug. It was an amazing feeling. It was indescribable.”