A former Brandon Township resident is skating on some elite ice.
On Sept. 24, Defenseman Ben Gleason was among 42 of the 2016 NHL draft-eligible players that participated in the 2015 CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects game at the First Niagara Centre in Buffalo, NY. Each year the top U.S. players who are eligible for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft are selected for the competition.. According to USA Hockey, 26 players that participated in the contest last year went on to be chosen in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, including seven first-round selections.
‘It was an honor to play on Team USA in Buffalo,? said Gleason. ‘All the NHL teams were represented at the game.’In 2014 Gleason, as a Brandon High School sophomore, was considered one of the top defensemen on a U18 Detroit Honeybaked travel team stocked with talent. At 6-foot 2 inches and 162-pounds, he was selected by the London Knights as the 36th draft pick overall in the second round of Ontario Hockey League’s 2014 Priority Selection. In late April 2014 Gleason joined the Knights in London, about two hours from Ortonville, where he resides with a billet family while attending the Blyth Academy.
The OHL’part of the Canadian Hockey League, is a development hockey league with 60 teams in nine Canadian provinces and five American states. Many players move on to the National Hockey League after playing in the OHL. The London Knights play their home games in Budweiser Gardens, the largest arena in southwestern Ontario.
In August, Gleason was invited to play for the USA Hockey Team as they traveled to the Czech Republic and competed for the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
Gleason’s success on the ice comes from a strong hockey family.
Older brother defenseman James Gleason, a 2012 Brandon High School graduate, is now playing for Central Michigan University. Tim Gleason, Ben’s first cousin, was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 2003, was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and in 2013 joined the Toronto Maple Leafs. In addition, in 2006, Tim Gleason played six games for the United States Olympic hockey team.