Man, it's easy to root for Cooper Way.

The 16-year-old rookie Elmira Sugar Kings forward is the youngest player on the Midwestern Conference-regular season championship team. Yet, he appears wise beyond his years. He knows what it takes. He knows there is plenty of hard work ahead if he wants to take the next step or two in his young career.

 

Way has every right to be a puffed up about his play these days. But he's not. He has kept his feet on the ground.

 

Last week, while his Sugar Kings teammates concluded their regular season with a 4-3 loss in Cambridge, Way received his first taste of life in the OHL. The Waterloo native, selected in the fourth round (78th overall) in the 2019 OHL draft, joined the Generals on Friday in time to play his first game in Kingston against the Frontenacs, a 4-3 overtime loss.

 

He continued his first foray in the OHL by watching his Oshawa teammates score a 5-2 win in Hamilton on Saturday. Way took the pregame warmup on Sunday and then watched the Generals clinch a playoff spot with a 2-1 victory at home against the Windsor Spitfires.

 

"It was a neat experience," said Way, now back with Sugar Kings, who open the first round of the playoffs in Elmira against the Brantford Bandits on Wednesday. "It obviously was my first game, something I have been dreaming about since I was a little guy. To finally get that opportunity was pretty cool."

 

This big day, the big weekend was something that had been in the works for weeks. The Generals brass admired the way their 6-foot-3, 181-pound forward developed this season.

 

Oshawa scouts liked what they saw in Way with the Waterloo Wolves minor midget team that advanced to the OHL Cup last year. He attended the Generals orientation camp a couple of weeks after the draft and training camp a few months later before he joined the Sugar Kings.

 

"[The orientation camp] was pretty cool because it was my first taste of OHL hockey," Way said. "It was a chance to meet and measure myself to the other draft picks and other free agents invited.

 

"The main camp in the summer, you're there with all the main players. It was an opportunity to see how I stood with them, and other players drafted, trying out for the team."

 

So what did Way learn in his three days with the Generals last weekend?

 

"There is a lot to learn if you want to be one of those top guys," he said. "You can see the speed of the game is different; the creativity is different. Things and decisions are done quicker. It not only showed me it takes a lot of work to get there but once you're there, it takes even more work to be one of the better guys."

 

Way always has had a good grasp on what it takes to be a reliable, solid player. His Dad Shawn, a former Waterloo Siskins standout, was good enough to play in the OHL for Belleville Bulls. His Uncle Jim also had talent. He played for the Bulls as well as the Sudbury Wolves.

 

Locals were accustomed to cheering for Jim and Shawn in the black and gold colours of Waterloo minor hockey and the Siskins. Cooper also wore black and gold. So it's weird to see him in Sugar Kings' green.

 

"Growing up, I went to Siskins' games, and gold and black were my favourite colours," the youngest Way said. "To switch teams always was going to be tough."

 

But Cooper did his homework. He liked what he heard and saw from Sugar Kings head coach Rob Collins, general manager Kevin Bloch and director of hockey operations Jeff Snyder. He was excited about the opportunity to be teammates with veteran defenceman Anthony Azzano, one of the holdovers from the Sugar Kings 2016-17 Sutherland Cup club. Tyler Dam arrived from the Siskins team that won the Sutherland Cup a year ago. Talented offensive players on this team with players like captain Hunter Dubecki, Jeremy Goodwin and Mason McMahon presented the Sugar Kings as an ideal landing spot, an excellent opportunity to develop his game.

 

"At the end of the day, my Dad supported me, and he was going to support me whichever team I chose," said Cooper, who scored eight goals and 25 points in 46 regular-season games.

 

"So far, it's been a pretty good season. Our team has been doing well. It's a team full of good guys. My self, personally, I feel I've developed crazy. I've noticed my confidence is up. It is a big jump from minor midget. There was a learning curve at the start, but once you get the hang of it, you feel more comfortable."

 

That's an excellent position to be in with the playoffs here.

 

"As a first-place team, you're learning what it takes to win and what it takes to be one of the top guys in the league, how to grind out wins in close games," Way said.

 

"Everybody always says this is the most fun time of the year. Right now, there is an end goal, and that is at the end of the playoffs we want to win a championship. We know that as a top team, if we play the way we can we can go far and hopefully achieve our goal."