Mitch Calvert
The team formerly known as the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres is expected to decide on a new name tonight after taking suggestions from the public during last Saturday’s 4-1 exhibition loss to the Sioux Lookout Flyers.
The squad, playing as the Fort Frances Juniors for the time being, showed some lack of cohesion on the ice on Saturday—understandable considering camp had opened just three days earlier—but some growing pains are to be expected as the team looks to work in an almost completely revamped team for this season.
The previous ownership group sold off most of its on-ice assets during the summer and the not-for-profit organization now at the helm is starting basically from the ground-up aside from returning players Ryan Witherspoon and Colton Kennedy.
All things considered, head coach Wayne Strachan was happy with what he saw from the squad in Game 1.
“I thought we carried the play offensively and out-chanced the Sioux, but we couldn’t put the puck home,” Strachan stressed.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but all in all I think it went better than I believed it would,” Strachan admitted. “We definitely were rough around the edges; however, with only being on the ice as a unit for around five hours [before Saturday’s game], the players showed they have potential.
“We will work hard now on conditioning, our systems and getting some chemistry with one another,” Strachan added.
The offence seemed to improve as the game wore on, getting in behind the Sioux defence and creating numerous odd-man scoring opportunities in the third.
Eventually those will start to go in as players get more comfortable with one another.
“I was impressed with the play of our top two lines, the [grittiness] of our third and fourth [lines],” Strachan noted. “Our defence, for the most part, played okay.
“We are young on the back-end and need to adjust to the faster pace to the game,” Strachan stressed.
The Juniors added five players to their lineup for last night’s rematch with the Flyers in Sioux Lookout (result unavailable prior to press time), including goaltender Coleman Wetherelt, forwards Anders Wick and Cameron Gross, and defencemen Austin Christie and Jake Halderman.
Christie and Halderman played ‘AAA’ Midget in Calgary last year, while Wick joins the team from the Kimberley Klippers of the SJHL (Saskatchewan).
Gross spent last season with Marathon’s ‘AAA’ Midget team while Wetherelt played Junior ‘B’ out west.
Locals Cole Calder and Jordan Sinclair were also expected to suit up for last night’s game after watching Saturday’s matchup from the stands.
“The local kids will be given every chance possible to make this team,” Strachan noted. “Some need to learn that junior is a lot of hard work; harder than they have ever had to work in the game before.
“Some need to be in better condition if they want to stick,” Strachan continued. “We have players that need to adjust to the junior game and learn that every shift, period and game you have to bring 100 percent to get in the lineup and eventually make the team.”
The Juniors initial ticket sales drive was a success—exceeding the benchmark of 100 season tickets sold. The group is hoping those remaining on the list can come forward and complete payment now that the season is official.
The not-for-profit, community-run effort also elected a board of directors last week to oversee operations moving forward.
Milt Strachan Jr. will take the role of president, Jim Fowler was elected as vice-president, and Tara Redford will sit on the board as secretary.
Everett Freeman will be tasked with the role of treasurer.
The individual directors who will sit on the board include Don McCool, Larry Patrick, Milt Strachan Sr., Kathy Tucker, Al Loveday, Yvonne Noonan, Wayne Allen, Wade Friesen, and Shirley Dolph.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but I think one of my strengths is getting people to work together, and that’s my goal here,” Strachan Jr. told those at the meeting. “If we can take some of the work off each other’s shoulders by everyone pitching in and helping out anyway we can, then I think we can make this work.
“There’s a lot of quality hockey people in this town who have been sitting on their hands, and if they see this take off and grow then hopefully they’ll come on board and help us,” Strachan reasoned.
Board members were nominated by individuals at the meeting and then asked if they’d accept the position in which they were nominated. Much of the members were reluctant to take on their specific roles but felt little choice but to do so.
“I wanted to be there. I was upset that ‘some’ of the board members that were appointed did so reluctantly,” Dan MacDonald said in a posting at www.fftimes.com
“I heard things like ‘If I have to’ and ‘If so-and-so won’t,’” MacDonald lamented. “This was not the case [with me]. I wanted to, I was willing to step up, I was there for the long haul.
“I am not saying that the new board is not here for the betterment of the team, but [for the] most part it was a lot of the same old, same old,” MacDonald added.
