Oriented at Spitfires camp
It served as an introduction for the new kids. Goalie Cam Ingram was among a group of 2024 draft picks who got a taste of how it feels to be a part of the Spitfires program.
Ingram and an assembly of 2008 and 2007 birth year players who the Spitfires picked at last month’s Ontario Hockey League priority selections and supplemental draft brackets were in attendance for a recent weekend orientation camp in Windsor.
And Ingram, who the Spitfires picked in the 13th round of the priority selections process, told Hockey News Windsor that the weekend served as further motivation for him.
“It was a great weekend meeting coaches, staff, and other teammates,” said Ingram. “The fans were great, too. Experiencing the weekend motivates me even more to work hard and become a Spitfire.”
At any rate, Ingram has a rather interesting hockey journey to date. He started out playing goalie in the little farm town of Echo Bay — located 30 miles or so outside of Sault Ste. Marie — for a house league team called the North Channel Lightning.
A few years later, after playing at the house league and then pee wee rep B levels for North Channel and in the ice cold, sardine can size rinks of the tiny Highway 17 towns of Desbarats, Thessalon and Massey, Ingram developed enough to make Under 14 AAA and then Under 15 AAA teams in Sault Ste. Marie. As he played for U14 and U15 teams in the Sault, Ingram continued to noticeably elevate his game between the pipes.
Then, last fall, with no Under 16 AAA team in the Sault, the son of Sean Ingram and Tammy Buchanan packed his goalie equipment and earned a position with the highly regarded Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the Greater Toronto Hockey League for the 2023-2024 season.
The move to Toronto — his mom was able to get a job there during the past season — paid off for young Ingram when the Spitfires drafted the 6 foot, 190 pound, 2008 birth year goalie.
Getting drafted to Windsor capped a wave of emotions in a short period of time for Ingram. Just prior to the draft, Ingram took a skate to the neck while participating at the OHL Combine. He required several stitches but his neck guard saved a more serious injury.
Meanwhile, Frank Evola, who is the director of scouting and hockey operations for the Spitfires, told Hockey News Windsor that there is “much to like” about Ingram.
“His consistency is one of the things that stood out when watching him this past season,” Evola noted. “He showed well whenever I saw him play. He is calm in the crease and he moves very well and he has a good glove hand. He is also a very intelligent goalie.
“Going into the draft, he was an A-rated (third to sixth round) goalie and we just could not pass up the opportunity to take him when he was still there in the 13th round. We sure didn’t think that he would still be there in the 13th round,” Evola added.
Ingram was the second of two 2008 birth year goalies that the Spitfires took at the recent OHL draft as they opted for 6 foot 4 puck stopper Jake Windbiel from the Chicago Mission in the seventh round.