It was a quiet day at the NHL Draft for local players and those on the North Bay Battalion.
Battalion ranked players Anthony Romani and Charlie Robertson both were not selected during the second day of the NHL Entry Draft which wrapped up Thursday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee.
Last season, the Battalion saw five players selected including Ty Nelson in the third round to the Seattle Kraken.
On top of that Team Canada and Sarnia Sting netminder Ben Gaudreau, who re-entered the draft after being selected in the third round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks, did not get selected as a player who re-entered the draft.
Barrie Colts defender and local product Connor Punnett also did not get selected either.
Gaudreau, Romani and Robertson all did not attend the draft in Nashville.
All of those players have the opportunity to get invites to NHL Development Camps which will start taking place in July.
See related: Interest gaining for Battalion prospects at the NHL Draft
See related: Another Keenan looking to make a name for himself in the NHL
See related: Central Ontario players live their draft dream
However, there was some good news for the Keenan family which has deep family ties to North Bay.
Larry Keenan, the grandson of former NHL Larry Keenan from North Bay, was selected in the fourth round, 117th overall by the Detroit Red Wings.
Larry Keenan Sr. is well known in the area operating the North Bay Trappers AAA major midget program for decades.
The 82-year-old North Bay product played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers. He played for the upstart Blues team in 1970 that fell to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final. Keenan Sr. was also known for being on the ice for Bobby Orr's flying Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime that year.
Cory Keenan, who is Larry Jr. dad and son of Larry Sr., told BayToday that Larry Sr. is excited watching Larry Jr. go through the draft process.
The family is proud of this draft moment today.
Keenan Jr., a Midhurst, Ontario native, told Tyler Evans from our sister site OrilliaMatters.com, that it's an amazing feeling being drafted by the Red Wings.
"I'm here with my mom, dad and sister," he told Evans.
"I'm really excited to share this moment with them."
Keenan, 18, played the last two seasons with Culver Military Academy Prep, and shot up the pre-draft rankings.
"It's a military leadership school," he explained of the Indiana school.
"I really enjoyed the whole aspect of leadership at Culver and we had a tight group of guys and we all enjoyed each other in the locker room and on the ice.
"It made it really fun to go to the rink each day."
Keenan had 37 points in 49 games last season, but he prides himself on using his six-foot-three, 185-pound frame to play a physical game which he believes is the reason the Red Wings selected him.
"I have a good two-way game," he said. "I'm still developing physically, but I think they will enjoy my hockey IQ, my good play-making and my work ethic."
Keenan says he wasn't surprised to hear his name called by Red Wings.
"They were one of the teams who had the most interest in me," he said.
Keenan will play for the Penticon Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League this fall before he heads to the University of Massachusetts in 2024-25.