Mike Laycock
Hockey & Baseball
Mike Laycock was born in Barrie and developed as a goaltender during his years with the Barrie Minor Hockey Association. He was a member of the 1971-72 Major Bantam AA and 1972-73 Minor Midget AA teams which won back-to-back OMHA Championships. Mike made the jump to Junior hockey in 1974, playing for the Barrie Colts Jr. B team, and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player.
In 1975 Mike accepted a scholarship to attend the Ivy League’s Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1977-78 Mike was named to the First Team All-Ivy, First Team All-ECAC, and First Team All-American College Hockey Teams. Mike was inducted into the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989. Mike was selected in the 12th round of the 1977 NHL draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. In 1979, Mike attended the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team selection camp before attending the Flyers training camp and was assigned to the Hampton Aces of the ECHL.
Mike was also an outstanding baseball/fastball player. In 1975 Mike was the youngest member of the Barrie Red Sox which represented Ontario at the Canadian Baseball Championships in Vancouver, BC. Mike was also an All-Star fastball catcher for various teams, winning several league championships and an OASA Intermediate AA Championship in 1978. In 1992 he was a member of the Barrie team that represented Ontario at the National Masters Slo-pitch Tournament in Calgary, Alberta, in 1992. With his competitive days of baseball and hockey behind him, Mike returned to his roots and became a coach in the Barrie Minor Baseball and Barrie Minor Hockey Associations for 10 years.
- Portrait painted by Keith Diemer; sponsored by Simcoe Building Centre