CODA Ozzy Wiesblatt drafted by San Jose Sharks in first round
During the National Hockey League (NHL) draft on Tuesday, a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) was selected in the first round. His name is Ozzy Wiesblatt and he is going to become a member of the San Jose Sharks. He is 18 years old.
There was a lot of buzz in the deaf community because the Sharks’ director of scouting, Doug Wilson Jr., fingerspelled “Ozzy” when announcing the 31st draft pick. There was a celebration.
[Video clip showing draft pick]
There is a six-minute video feature on the Wiesblatt family by Sportsnet, a Canadian sports channel, that was released in December 2019. The link is in the transcript. I will recap it.
The mother is Kim White and she has five children, four sons and a daughter. They live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In the feature, Kim explained that when her first two sons were young, she put them into a soccer league so they could socialize and develop their speaking skills. From there, someone noticed that their sons were natural athletes and suggested they try out hockey.
Kim said she was hesitant because of the cost of hockey, but found a way by working multiple jobs. The feature said Kim was a single mother after her relationship with the children’s father dissolved. She raised the boys as a single mom.
The sons said they had to cope with coaches or other people making fun of their deaf mother on the hockey rink.
The feature said two families decided to open their homes to allow the two older sons, Ocean and Orca, to live with them and help with the costs of hockey.
The sons advanced into higher levels of hockey, playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL), where Ozzy was ultimately drafted into the NHL.
In the feature, Kim said it would be life-changing if one of the sons made it into the NHL. So, it is a dream come true for Kim White and the Wiesblatt family. Big congratulations to them.
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In separate but related news, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Stanley Cup last week, has a CODA player — Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is the goalie. He is from Russia and his father has the same name and was a deaf player and coach for the Russian Deaflympics hockey team.
https://www.nhl.com/sharks/news/sharks-wilson-signs-ozzy-wiesblatt-name-for-deaf-mother/c-319344000
https://www.nhl.com/sharks/video/sharks-draft-ozzy-wiesblatt/t-277437430/c-6792888?sf130020498=1
http://ugra2015.com/vasilevskiy-jr-supported-the-deaflympic-team-of-russia/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/sports/hockey/tampa-bay-lightning-win-stanley-cup.html
http://ugra2015.com/andrey-vasilevskiy-deaflympics-are-the-most-important-competitions-for-us/