Declan McDonnell and Dalton Wright have been teammates almost every single year since they first played for the Hamburg Hawks organization at age 4. Over their 12 years as friends and teammates, the two have countless memories on and off the ice.
But on April 10, 2018, they made possibly their favorite memory to date as they won the Tier I Youth 15-Only National Championship in Plymouth, Michigan with a 2-1 win over Little Caesar’s.
Smiles for days…. pic.twitter.com/DSAdhe5VI5
— Buffalo Jr. Sabres (@BuffaloJrSabres) April 10, 2018
I sat down with Declan and Dalton the day after their exciting weekend concluded, which also included Declan finding out he’d been drafted to the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.
This is our conversation from their first full day back in Buffalo as national champions.
You guys have been playing together for 12 years. How did this all start?
Dalton: My dad introduced us to each other when we were like 4 years old playing for the Hawks. And then we’ve just been playing together ever since, always on the same team.
Declan: Yeah, it started with Hamburg, and then we moved to Canada with the Rivermen for a couple years, and then here we are winning a National Championship, so that’s pretty sweet.
What are some of your favorite memories of playing together growing up?
Dalton: My favorite memory with him was on the Hamburg Hawks when we were little. We won the Western New York Championship when we were 8, I think it was. That was pretty cool.
Declan: Yeah, we definitely have some sweet memories at the rink, but we always hang out outside the rink, so we have a lot of memories there too, so that’s pretty awesome.
Are you on the same line?
Declan: For the power play we are, but we’re both centers, so it’s kinda hard to get out there at the same time.
How does your friendship off the ice contribute to your chemistry on the ice?
Dalton: We’ve just been playing together for so long, we just know where each other is all the time. I just know where he is all the time.
Declan: Yeah, on the ice, we always know where each other is and we can go tic-tac-toe, so that’s pretty sweet.
How did you each end up playing for the Jr. Sabres?
Dalton: He played here four years ago, and then he and a bunch of other kids convinced me to come down from Canada to play two years for the Jr. Sabres.
Declan: Yeah, I’ve been here ever since it started. We started recruiting Dalton, and now here we are.
How was this season overall for you guys?
Dalton: So in the beginning of the season, we were looking kinda rough and shaky. But then we bonded as a team, and we just glued together for nationals, and it was an unreal feeling.
Declan: It was an awesome season. Had some ups and downs, but at the end we came through, and, national champs.
What do you remember from the championship weekend?
Dalton: Couldn’t sleep at night, that was one. Games were always close and tough, no matter who we played. We battled through it, and then we finally came together as a team and got the dub in the championship.
Declan: Yeah, it was a battle all week. One game a day, so a lot of time to recover and think about the next game and the game plan. Each team was tough, and we just stuck it out to the end.
Declan, you were drafted by Kitchener over the weekend as well. How much did that add to everything?
Declan: We were getting ready for a big game against Team Wisconsin when I found out. A couple of my buddies yelled, ‘Hey, you just got drafted by Kitchener, 57th overall!’ I was listening to music, all focused, and that just came out, so that was kind of bad timing, but it was still pretty sweet. But through the game, just thinking about that, it was pretty awesome.
Aside from winning it all, what was your favorite memory from the weekend?
Dalton: Probably yard saling. We were just out there for like 40 minutes. It didn’t settle in that we won.
Declan: Yeah, definitely the yard sale. That was definitely the best part. Just out there, hugging each other and taking pictures for about 40 to an hour. Best part was definitely, I broke my helmet in the celebration. I lost a glove. I think a [Little] Caesar’s kid took it, so that was something I’ll never forget.
What came together, especially this weekend, for you guys to be able to win it all?
Dalton: I think after three games, we finally realized that we had a really good chance of winning this, and we pushed through and we got it.
Declan: Just determination. We wanted it from the beginning. Every game, we came in with a new mindset. The next game was the most important, and we just kept battling and stuck it out. Once we got to the playoffs and went three-and-oh against some pretty solid and tough teams, we believed we could win it from there.
Having played together for so long, how much more special did that make it for you two?
Dalton: It felt so good. Me and him looked at each other and we just hugged each other, and we couldn’t believe that we finally won it. From Hamburg Hawks to this – it was crazy.
Declan: From mites to 15U and now 16U, it’s a pretty awesome feeling, and we’ve been brothers since the beginning, so it’s pretty awesome.
Dalton: Shoutout to Ed Grudzinski and the Buffalo Jr. Sabres organization for a great year.
Declan: Yeah, thanks to the organization, thanks to Ed. He set up a great week, team dinners. Couldn’t have done it without him, and thanks to the parents for supporting us all year long.
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