Charles Warburton
Family Day was going to be a big day for Luke Misa and his brother Michael - until a knee injury got in the way.
The Mississauga Steelheads were set to take on the Saginaw Spirit for an afternoon affair and this game would be the second time that the brothers had played against each other.
The Misa family had taken over an entire section many people in the family split between wearing a Misa Steelheads jersey or wearing a Misa Spirit jersey.
But fate had different ideas. Michael Misa sustained an injury at the beginning of the month after colliding in a knee-on-knee collision in the Saginaw Spirit's game against the London Knights.
Michael was unable to play in the Family Day game against Mississauga, but he was in the press box supporting his team and also his brother. He was, unfortunately, also hobbling around the Paramount Fine Foods Center on crutches.
The game was important for the obvious reason of the brothers playing against each other with their family in the stands. This was also Michael’s homecoming in a way as he played his minor hockey in Mississauga for the Senators.
Mississauga Steelheads fans shouldn't take for granted the Misa brother that General Manager James Richmond selected ninth overall in the 2021 OHL priority selection.
Luke had a very respectable rookie season last year where he scored 26 points in 62 regular season games and scored five points in 10 playoff games including a beautiful goal against the future OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs.
Luke wasn't getting the top-tier minutes last season as those were given to the veteran players like Montreal Canadiens draft pick Owen Beck and Columbas Blue Jackets draft pick Luca DelBelBelluz.
After those players were traded this season, Luke was given the opportunity to play a much bigger role on the Steelheads.
Misa is now centring the team's first line with franchise leading point scorer James Hardie on his left and 2004-born forward Zander Veccia.
Misa has succeeded in this new role and has already surpassed his point totals from last season with 35 points in 54 games.
This improvement is so important for Luke as next year will be his draft. Since Luke has a November birthday he does not qualify for the 2023 NHL draft which gives Luke another full year to work on his game and put up points in his new role.
It's likely another year in the OHL next season will do nothing but help Luke as he hopes to get drafted in 2024.
