At their annual awards banquet last Thursday the Fort Frances Lakers announced that they will be changing colours for next season as well as confirming that the staff who finished the season will remain with the team.
In an effort to turn over a new leaf and move on from past controversies the Lakers are changing from their current red and black colour scheme to one that mirrors the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL.
Lakers president Gary Silander says the hope is for a fresh start.
“It’s more to turn over a new leaf, and get a new start,” Silander said. “Start to get rid of the dark cloud that’s been overhead for a couple of years. Start fresh and go from there.”
Jersey colours will be white, black and grey, as well as a third jersey which will incorporate a purple which may be more reminiscent of the Borderland Thunder days.
Silander said this year’s players liked the King’s colour scheme.
“The coaching staff liked the colours, the kids liked the colours and they’re the ones that are playing the game,” Silander said. “We’ve got to make them look good. They look good, they play good.”
The other major announcement made during the banquet was that the coaching staff that finished the year with the team will stay on next year.
Tyler Miller was named Interim Head Coach and General Manager after Paul MacLean was fired in December. With Assistant Brandon Bodnar staying on as assistant and goalie coach.
Part way through the second half of the season Miller and Bodnar were joined behind the bench by Luke Judson and Cody Mosbeck.
Silander says he and the board feel the staff helped the team improve over the second half and the players also like the staff.
“[There was a] turnaround overall,” Silander said. “The kids love the coaching staff, we’ve won more games, scoring percentage [is better], tighter games, stuff like that.”
Silander says they’d also like to give the Miller-led group a shot at a full season of coaching.
Silander also likes that the coaches are all local to the Fort Frances area which means they care about the community and seeing hockey in the community do well.
“All of the coaches are here because they love the game,” Silander said. “They want to bring it back to the community. They’re all community oriented, we’re a community owned team and we do it the right way.”
The Lakers are currently working with community partners to finalize sponsorship of the three sets of jerseys as well as what logos will look like. The redesigned jerseys will be finalized before next season.
