Last Updated on: 18th September 2025, 07:56 pm
For a lot of reasons, I’ve been way more behind on even more things than usual for quite a while now. One of those things, I have just come to discover, is that Larry Mellott retired from calling Guelph Storm games at the end of last season.
Congrats on a great run, Larry! It won’t be the same without you, but you’ve certainly earned it.
He says that one of the main reasons he’s decided to hang it up is the health of some family members. We can certainly relate to that, especially these last few years. Here’s hoping for the best for everyone.
So what happens now? Who gets the task of trying to replace a local legend?
That would be Dylan Baker, who at just 19 years old already has a fair bit of experience.
Baker has been the voice of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Komoka Kings since the fall of 2019. That is where, at 13, he got the broadcast bug.
“I think I decided (this was for me) pretty quickly, once I got going, because I just loved it so much,” he said.
It’s the same year he got his start with the Intercounty Baseball League’s London Majors, and has been calling baseball games every summer since.
Last year, he joined 519 Sports Online and began travelling around to GOJHL rinks to call games.
Baker is also bilingual, and has utilized that skill as the French public address voice at the last two Memorial Cups. He also provided the French play-by-play at the U SPORTS women’s national hockey championship last spring.
“I’ve had my fair share of great hockey moments over the years, and I’ve been very lucky,” he said.
Baker is calling games both at home and on the road, and said he will likely miss one or two games because of exams.
He is in the third year of a four-year sport media program at Toronto Metropolitan University.
“It’s definitely going to be busy to balance it all, but when an opportunity like this presents itself, you can’t pass it up,” he said. “You have to jump all over it.”
I’ve seen some of his 519 Sports work and found it to be pretty solid. For a while it’ll be really friggin weird hearing someone who isn’t Larry when I tune in, but I think he’ll do just fine.
Go Storm!