 He played in the 1995 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Lambton County.At age 16, he played for the Petrolia Jets Jr.B.team of the Ontario Hockey Association's Western Ontario Hockey League before being drafted by the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s Windsor Spitfires in the third round, 56th overall, of the 1998 OHL Priority Selection.