John Tavares (born September 20, 1990, in Oakville, Ontario), is a Canadian junior ice hockey player. He is currently playing with the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League.
Tavares played the 2004-05 season with the Toronto Marlboros Minor Midget AAA team, where he accumulated 158 points, with 91 goals, and 67 assists. Tavares finished the season with the Milton Merchants, scoring another 13 goals and 15 assists in 20 games.
In the summer of 2005, Tavares was the first player ever to be granted "exceptional player" status by the OHL, which allowed him to be drafted at the age of 14. The usual minimum age to be included in the OHL Priority Selection is 16 years old by December 31. Tavares is the youngest player to be drafted in the OHL, however Bobby Orr was signed and played at a younger age.
This exceptional player rule was adopted by all of the Canadian Hockey League as part of the implementation of Hockey Canada's new development model. There were no applications to grant exceptional status to any players for the 2006 OHL Priority Selection draft. David Branch, president of the Canadian Hockey League and commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League stated "Tavares set the bar very high". On March 16, 2007, Tavares broke a mark previously held by Wayne Gretzky by scoring his 70th and 71st goals of the season as a sixteen-year-old in the OHL. On May 2, 2007, the OHL announced Tavares as the winner of the Red Tilson Trophy as the most outstanding player in the league.
John Tavares featured on CTV
MINI DOCUMENTARY ON JOHN TAVARES
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