Sabres sign local player

 The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres announced a much-anticipated signing as Fort Frances native Mitch Cain was declared a signee of the expansion club.
    “[It’s] definitely going to be an experience, that’s for sure,” Cain said.
    The 16-year-old admitted he was thinking about his chances with the team since its entry into the Superior International Junior Hockey League was announced a few months ago.
    “I think that we should do pretty well this year and having Wayne [Strachan] behind the bench, it should help the team a lot,” Cain added.
    Strachan hopes to mold Cain into one of the centrepieces of the team.
    “He’s a skilled, smooth-skating centremen,” Strachan noted. “He’s obviously young, but [he’s] a player we hope we can groom for many years to come.”
    Cain spent time over the summer trying out for the Ontario under-17 team and Strachan hopes the experience “got his feet wet in some competitive hockey.”
    In other news, the Sabres traded with the Thunder Bay Bulldogs for JP Boucha, a Warroad, Mn. native who played defence for that team most of last season.
    The Bulldogs will receive future considerations.
    “He’s a veteran so we’ll be looking for leadership,” Strachan said. “He’s a big kid. He can play forward and [defence], and I think he’s a kid who will fit in with our plans quickly.
    “He’s a skilled hockey player and he works hard.”
    The Sabres also announced some of their off-season plans, including three pre-season dates.
    The squad will pay its first-ever games in a home-and-home series against the Dryden Ice Dogs on Friday, Sept. 7 here and then Saturday, Sept. 8 up there.
    They’ll head back to Fort Frances for a match the following day (Sept. 9) against the Fort William North Stars.
    “We’re very, very excited to be playing on home ice,” said Sabres’ vice-president Nancy Gardiman.
    The dates are fast approaching as the Sabres’ logo was put on that home ice at the Ice for Kids Arena for the first time over the weekend, she added.
    “It’s absolutely beautiful. We’re really excited about that,” Gardiman enthused. “And I think the fans will be excited.”
    The Sabres will be out in the community even earlier this summer, with a booth at the Emo Fall Fair on Aug. 16-18.
    “The district’s a very important part of the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres,” Gardiman stressed. “We have some very strong support in Emo. . . we wanted to be part of that culture.”
    She added the Emo Fall Fair will be one of the first opportunities for fans to pick up Sabres’ gear, including caps and other clothing.
    The team also recently decided to honour Bryce Devoe, the 13-year-old Fort Frances boy who was struck and killed by lightning back in May.
    Devoe was an avid athlete and a big hockey fan, and the team will hnour his memory by wearing his #10 on their helmets for their inaugural season.
    “When we read of the accident and the death of Bryce Devoe, it affected our families tremendously in Thunder Bay,” Gardiman said. “Both Carolyn [Kellaway, owner/president of the Sabres] and I have 13-year-old boys here who play hockey.”
    She explained they spoke with Devoe’s mother, who was “quite happy” with the idea.
    Gardiman added that using Devoe’s favourite number in tribute was particularly fitting as he recently had worn #10 while playing hockey with the local Canadian Tire Sabres.
    The Jr. Sabres, the newest expansion team in the SIJHL, also will hold their first training camp next weekend.
(Fort Frances Times)