Staff
The Fort Frances Thunderhawks finally can leave their nest and spread their wings.
The newly-created senior men’s hockey team will see their first action of the season tonight when they host the Kenora Thistles at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Warm-ups are at 6:45 p.m., with the game scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
The Thunderhawks were supposed to begin their existence over weekend with a two-game set against the Thunder Bay Twins.
But the process to get the Fort Frances roster registered with Hockey Northwestern Ontario (HNO) was not completed in time—forcing the games to be cancelled since the players would not have been insured under Hockey Canada without being registered first.
Thunderhawks’ manager Dean Bruyere, who tried to contend with the paperwork problem over the weekend while also dealing with the death of his eldest sister on Saturday in Fort Frances (not Thunder Bay as originally reported), confirmed last night that the game with the Thistles was on.
“We’ve got everything worked out with the player transfers now and we’re ready to go,” said Bruyere, who added anyone who had tickets for either of the games this past Saturday and Sunday could use those for tonight’s game.
Before the puck drops, there will be a special opening ceremony involving surviving members of the 1952 Fort Frances Canadians, who captured the Allan Cup that year.
Canadians’ captain Walter (Sambo) Fedoruk will conduct the ceremonial face-off.
