For any long time follower of the SHL, the name Donini will ring a bell. This of course is because of former SHLer Brandon Donini. The former Jets and Panthers power forward was a star in the SHL's early days, leading a crop of elite power forwards that dominated the league's first couple decades. Donini was the Winnipeg Jets 3rd overall pick in S11, going on to spend most of his prime years with the Jets and the Los Angeles Panthers where he was nominated for the Jeff Dar trophy as the league's best two-way forward four times, winning it twice. Donini also won a Challenge Cup in S17 before being inducted to the SHL's Hall of Fame in S25, a couple seasons after putting an end to his 13 year career. That wasn't the end of that name in the SHL though, after taking break post retirement to be with family, Donini returned to the SHL world in S49 taking on a co-GM role with the Anaheim Outlaws, eventually becoming the team's GM where he led them to a Four Star Cup in S52. When he left his role with Anaheim back in S57 we thought that would be the end of the Donini name in the SHL world, until now.

Brandon has 3 sons; Ryan, Matthew, and Adriano. The first two never followed in their father's footsteps but his youngest son, 16 year old Adriano, has been making noise at the minor hockey level. Adriano was born in his father's home country of Italy, he spent most of his childhood growing up in LA while his father played for the Panthers before moving to Montreal at age 10 where the rest of his family lived. The mobile puck moving defenseman is a completely different type of player than his father was, he's known in most scouting circles for his skating and finesse, standing at 5'10" 145lbs his physical attributes leave something to be desired but he moves at an elite level. The perfect combination of speed, agility, and hockey IQ have allowed him to absolutely dominate at the high school level, and now the teenage defenseman has his sights set on the home of hockey's premier prospects, the SMJHL.

Donini posted to his Instagram stories last night, announcing that he felt he was ready to declare for the upcoming SMJHL draft. The young star announced that he wanted to take the next step in his game and show to the world that he has what it takes to leave just as big of a legacy in the hockey world as his father. The announcement wasn't without controversy though, Donini has been harshly criticized on social media for including in his announcement that he was not interested in playing for most of the SMJHL's teams. The promising defenseman continued with another story, writing that his preferred destination in the SMJHL was the team his father used to manage, the Anaheim Outlaws. He also said that he could possibly be open to playing for either the Newfoundland Berserkers or the Carolina Kraken but he has no real interest in playing anywhere else. We'll see how this announcement reflects on the young star's draft stock but one thing is for certain, the Donini name is back in the SHL world and the young Donini is looking like he'll be just as controversial of a figure in the SHL as his father once was.