Remarkable rookie year with Ottawa 67's propels Nepean's Thomas Vandenberg up NHL Draft rankings. Jumping at the opportunity to play for one of his childhood teams, the 17-year-old was third on the 67's in goal scoring this past season and will soon learn his future National Hockey League home.
Nine months ago, on the eve of a new Ontario Hockey League season, if any hockey scouts hadn't heard the name Thomas Vandenberg before, they were certainly about to.
After spending the 2024-25 season in the United States Hockey League to protect his NCAA eligibility, a landmark rule change allowing Canadian Hockey League players to play men's Division I hockey was the shiny green light the Nepean native needed to move back in with Mom and Dad.
Vandenberg's OHL rights were owned by his hometown Ottawa 67's, a team he grew up watching at TD Place Arena in awe of the playoff atmosphere and pace of play on the ice.
Come September, it was time to make that childhood dream a reality. Parents Pat and Carolin hopped in the car and drove to Kingston for their youngest son's debut.
"Thomas was more just getting comfortable playing games in the pre-season, but I could tell that he wasn't letting loose yet," Pat told the Ottawa Citizen in a phone interview this week. "We didn't really know what to expect. You hope your son, playing his first game, is just going to do well and keep up with the play."
Two minutes and 17 seconds into the Barber Poles' season opener, Vandenberg tipped in a point shot on the power play for his first OHL goal.
And that was only the appetizer.
A 'surreal' moment
After adding an assist in the first period, Vandenberg forced a turnover at the 67's blue line five minutes into the middle frame, skated in on a breakaway and absolutely wired a wrister bar-down for his second goal of the game. He completed the hat trick in the third, hustling down the left side and ripping another wrist shot past the Frontenacs goalie for the 6-2 final.
"It was just … It was just surreal," Pat reminisced.
Said Vandenberg: "Couldn't really believe that it was true, that it actually happened. More confirmation, definitely for me, that I was ready to play in this league and I belong."
A week later, Vandenberg scored just 4:13 into his true homecoming, a 7-3 win against the Soo Greyhounds in front of even more friends and family at Lansdowne.
The 17-year-old would go on to have a solid season, racking up 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists) in 59 games while centring an all-rookie line between Shaan Kingwell and Brock Chitaroni.
"I tried to take more of a leadership (role) within our line and I thought I did that quite well," Vandenberg said. "We were helping each other out. (I was) just making the game as easy as I can for them and myself, being in the right positions, pushing speed, opening up lanes for them. I think we took on that challenge, and we did it with '09, '08 and '07 (birth years)."
Vandenberg flourished under Dave Cameron, the 2026 OHL Coach of the Year.
"The big thing was he wants his players to be responsible for themselves," Vandenberg said, "off the ice as well, with schooling, relationships, work ethic on the ice and in games. He just brought out a more mature side of me as a person and in my game."
