Mitch Calvert
A plan to bring a senior ‘A’ men’s hockey team to the area is still very much alive.
“We’re still putting a budget together,” organizer Dean Bruyere said. “Having a hard time getting ice-time here in Fort Frances, but I’m sitting on my hands waiting with how the [Fort Frances Jr.] Sabres thing is going to work out.
“When that happens, I’ll know whether I have to use the Falls or Emo [rinks] or have my ice-time that I need here [in Fort Frances],” Bruyere added.
Bruyere said they’ve tentatively pencilled in some dates in November and December for some potential games, though the schedule wouldn’t ramp up until the New Year in preparation of the playdowns to represent Northern Ontario at the national championship Allan Cup.
“We’ll play exhibition games, with a concentration of most of the games in January, February, March when the guys have to be in the best shape [ahead of the Allan Cup playdowns],” Bruyere said. “At the very most a 16-game schedule, but I’m even reluctant to go that deep.
“[We] just want to have a few games here to give people a taste because it’s the first year,” Bruyere added. “Maybe in the second year if all goes well we can get a little fancier, but right now I just want them to get a look.”
“The biggest thing we’re fearful of is if we play a 16-game schedule and most of it is done before Christmas, then they’re going to be tired of the commitment,” Bruyere stressed. “They don’t want much time away from their job or want to play every Friday and Saturday, so we kind of have to pick and choose when we play.”
The Thunder Bay Twins senior ‘A’ team have been very receptive to the idea of having a little more competition close to home, and hope to schedule some games with the Fort Frances team.
“They said they’d do whatever they can to cut our costs and get us out there,” Bruyere said. “They are receptive to having us because they figured they didn’t do very well [at last year’s Allan Cup] because they didn’t have enough games leading up to it.
“So with Kenora and us, they’ll be able to put a little schedule together and get their legs,” Bruyere continued. “When they went in to play the Allan Cup, most of these guys were just used to playing beer league, and they had three goals scored on them real quick and were playing catch-up every game.”
“A little better quality competition would sharpen up all the teams.”
Bruyere said the finished product on the ice should sell itself.
“These guys are all seasoned and I’m sure it’ll be good hockey that people will want to watch,” Bruyere said. “It’s all local talent pretty much, and I think we could draw pretty well.”
An open camp is still tentatively set for the middle of September, giving everyone an opportunity to try out for the squad.
“We’re going to book three days during the middle of the week and have camp,” Bruyere noted. “We’re going to charge x-amount per head, skate them for a week and have a look-see and then our coaches will pick the players from that.”
Talk of having a contest to decide on a team name is still being discussed, but since many of the players would be former Borderland Thunder the name likely will centre around that connection.
“If time allows us to have a competition to name the team, we will, but rather than doing it arbitrarily I think we’ll come up with a short list and have people choose [from the list],” Bruyere noted.
Bruyere said they are confident they can succeed here, with significant interest coming in from different people in the area.
“Some individuals from the community are quite interested in getting involved with this, but I’m holding off until I get my ice-time and registration in place,” Bruyere said.
“Once we’ve figured out the budget and I know what we minimally need to operate, then we can move forward.”
