by Jashvina Shah
On April 7, Donovan Sebrango received a text from his mother telling him the Kitchener Rangers selected Sebrango 40th overall in the OHL Draft.
But there was one slight issue — Sebgrango was already committed to play college hockey at Boston University.
Growing up in Kingston, Ontario, Sebrango’s only exposure of next-tier hockey was to the OHL. When Sebrango joined the CIHA at the age of 13, he received exposure to college hockey. One of his CIHA teammates committed to BU, and Sebrango became interested in that route. He eventually committed to BU in October of 2017.
“Some teams started getting in contact with me so I went and visited a few and BU was the one I picked,” Sebgrango said.
Because of his commitment, Sebrango didn’t talk to OHL teams prior to the draft, but Kitchener attended some of his games. So after the draft. Sebrango sat down with his mother and discussed his future.
“She’s the one that actually told me ‘You need to go to the OHL, I think that’s best for you,’ so I believe in her,” Sebrango said. “I listened to her and I believe I made the right decision.”
He signed with Kitchener in June.
Sebrango began playing hockey when he was four years old. He hated his first time on the ice and never wanted to go back, but his parents made him keep skating. It took a year and a half, and playing with friends, for Sebrango to finally like the sport. At age 13, he went to the CIHA.
“I thought a different scenery would be good for living and hockey,” Sebrango said. “I thought it might be better for me and I got to meet some of my best friends, got to live with them every day, work out with them and be on a team with them.”
His first year with the Voyageurs, Sebrango scored 11 points in 29 games, improving that total to 29 points in 30 games. Last season, at 15 years old, he potted 25 games for CIHA White. He also spent four games with the Ottawa Jr. Senators of the CCHL.
“Us being on the ice every day for an hour and a half, you’re bound to get better,” Sebgrango said. “I thought that was, especially the one-on-one time there, I thought it was unbelievable.”
Sebrango said his offensive ability is his best on-ice skill but would like to return to his physicality.
“I used to like to hit when I was a bit younger and I kind of stopped it but I think if I bring it back in my game, it’ll help my game be more rounded,” Sebgrango said.