Thunder GM confident about future

General manager Brent Tookenay could have asked for more out of the Borderland Thunder’s second season, but that might look greedy.
The local Junior ‘A’ hockey squad had a season chock full of pleasant memories that had Thunder fans buzzing with excitement from the first drop of the puck.
Borderland’s list of accomplishments included winning the pre-season SIJHL “Showcase Tournament” on home ice, leading the league in points from start to finish with a 33-12-5-2 record, and capturing their first SIJHL championship, going 8-1 during the post-season drive.
Then they came within one goal of upsetting the top-ranked team in the country—and possibly capturing the Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canada Junior ‘A’ crown—here last month.
“It was a fantastic year,” said Tookenay, who saw his roster go through a slew of changes both from the end of last season to the start of this one, as well as several alterations throughout the campaign.
“From the pre-season tournament win to being in first place all year to going through the SIJHL playoffs with just one loss, the guys just played unbelievable,” he remarked.
“Of course, a lot of the credit has to go to the coaching staff,” he added. “But there was a lot of pressure on the players to win and they came through.”
The course for the 2002-03 season was set last spring when the Thunder applied for—and then landed—the right to host the Dudley Hewitt Cup.
“We were looking to bring in guys that would fit in good with the team and also bring experience to the table,” said Tookenay, who stocked the squad with homegrown talent in its inaugural season, but more actively pursued players across Canada and Minnesota prior to this past one.
“It was a good mixture of guys. There were all kinds of different personalities, but sometimes that works out to be good,” he noted. “Like Josh [Baxter] said before, this group really came together after Christmas.”
As is usually the case in junior hockey, the makeup of next season’s Thunder roster will be markedly different.
Up front, Borderland will lose its captain in Baxter, as well as forwards Chad Baldwin, Aaron Grynol, Kyle Prystupa, and Ryan Sinclair with their junior eligibility now complete.
On defence, the age factor also will take its toll as blueliners Chris Shaen, Jay Phillips, and David Lloyd all pass the 20-year-old barrier.
“You can’t really judge whether we’ll feel the losses worse up front or on the back end,” said Tookenay. “They’re all valuable guys.”
On the flip side, the Thunder will retain the services of their leading scorer in Matt Johnson (24 goals/68 points).
Other key returnees are forward Kevin Webb (second in scoring with 47 points), defenceman Kurt Hogard (playoff points leader with 10), and the goaltending tandem of Dan Hoehne (SIJHL leader in wins with 17 and goals against average at 2.60) and Jamie Munro (11-5-1 during the regular season).
Some of those names may be lost through college scholarship or other junior offers forthcoming, but Tookenay isn’t overly concerned.
“We may lose a couple of guys but if we get most everyone back that can come back, we’ll be okay,” he predicted.
While unable to officially discuss his head coach’s contract status, noting Thunder president Shawn Jourdain and vice-president Sam Bruyere handle that side of things, Tookenay did expect Dave Allison to be at the helm once again.
Though he also admitted external circumstances may dictate otherwise for either the bench boss or his staff.
“With a guy like Dave, it’s possible a pro team could come knocking and you never know what offers he might get from other teams,” Tookenay said about the Fort Frances native who previously has served head coaching stints with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, and the Grand Rapids Griffins (formerly of the IHL).
“For the assistants, it’s a matter of whether they can make the time commitment,” noted Tookenay. “But they’ve all done a great job and I hope they’ll be back.”
The team’s annual awards banquet, slated June 7 at the Couchiching Recreation Centre, will be open to the public. Tickets will go on sale in the upcoming weeks, with more information to be released when it’s available.