Burnaby puck product Massimo Rizzo has opted to return to the Penticton Vees of the B.C. Junior Hockey League despite being wooed by the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League.
The forward was selected by the Kamloops Blazers 14th overall in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft. According to Kamloops reporter Gregg Drinnan’s Taking Note blog, all 13 players taken before him have joined the WHL team they were picked up.
Drinnan reported Rizzo met with Blazers head coach Don Hay, general manager Stu McGregor, majority owner Tom Gaglardi (who also owns the Dallas Stars of the NHL), and part owner Shane Doan, a former Blazers player who has played 1,540 NHL games for the Arizona Coyotes franchise.
Last season, Rizzo scored 84 points in 48 games for the Burnaby Winter Club’s prep team. He also played 20 games – regular season, playoff, Western Canada Cup and national junior championship – for the Vees.
Rizzo was recently invited to Hockey Canada’s under-17 development camp to be held in Calgary starting July 12.
