New coach, new players, new season. Stayner Siskins Georgian Mid Ontario Junior C Hockey League season is going to be very different from last season.
Firstly, Steve Walker, the club’s head coach and former professional hockey player, accepted an assistant hockey coach position in the elite German Hockey League with Munich.
Taking over his duties is Dave Rainford, an assistant coach with the club from last year.
Rainford is very capable and will do a good job but all the same it’s tough to lose a coach of Walker’s pedigree.
Secondly, nine players have finished their junior careers, playing at a higher level or moved away to attend school. The plus side is that a swath of good local players signed contracts and it’ll be fun to watch them mature and become better hockey players.
Thirdly, the new season started Sept. 17 for the Siskins and despite losing the season opener 4-2 to the Schomberg Cougars rebounded with two consecutive wins over Huntsville, 5-2, and Caledon, 5-4 then tied the Cougars 1-1 in overtime Monday night. Last season, Stayner finished a league second, four points back of Alliston, with an enviable 28-6-3-3 record. Granted it’ll be a challenge to match that record but expectations are for them to advance further into the playoffs. Orillia Terriers shocked them and everyone else in the league stunningly capturing the series four games to two. Mind you, the Terriers’ goalie stood on his head, carried horseshoes, and kissed the goal post way too many times.
Speaking with Siskins general manager Richard Gauthier he said that it’ll take five to 10 games for all the kids coming out of Midgets and minor hockey to adjust to junior level. Not only is the game quicker and players bigger and stronger, the rookies will be learning far more elaborate systems.
Gauthier also mentioned that playing the first four games on the road before even stepping onto your home ice for a practice is always a challenge.
The club will depend on over-agers Ricky Darrell, a sniper who finished second on the team in points last season with 31 goals and 26 assists, rock solid defenceman Ryan Hudson from Brewster’s Lake, and big centreman Ben Lougheed, 18 goals and nine assists. It also looks like Kyle Paulitzki can net the team goals. He has notched four already.
Signing with the club as their only 16-year-old is Jordan Taylor. For Creemore historians, Taylor’s old man John scored the first goal in the Creemore Community Centre.
A couple of other new names on the club that may be familiar to the area are Austin Hamilton and Isaac Swanton. Hamilton, who is one of the Hamilton’s from Glen Huron, scored his first junior goal Sunday night in Caledon with Taylor assisting. Swanton wears the same number 22 that his father Rob wore when he was the Siskins’ high scoring captain.
Also playing on the club from Creemore or Stayner are Lucas Jeffery, Jackson Clarke, Trevor Franklin and Kyle Lafreniere. Clarke, Jeffery, and Hudson scored their lone goals this season in the Huntsville win.
Although Gauthier isn’t a fortune teller, he believes the league will be very tight this year and that the powerplay, penalty kill and netminding will be the key to where each team finishes.
Trevor Bloch returns between the pipes which gives the club experience for one of those key areas.
Sean Caulfield will push Bloch for the number one job. The goalies have split the games thus far.
The home opener was played last night against Alliston. Unfortunately, the result came in too late for press deadline. In upcoming games, Stayner goes to Erin Sunday, Orillia Wednesday, and host Erin Thursday, 8:10 p.m. puck drop.
Interestingly, around the league, Darrin Shannon, a retired NHL leftwinger who suited up for the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, and Phoenix Coyotes for a number of seasons, replaces Clay Birkett as bench boss for the Alliston Hornets. Sandy McCarthy, who led the Hornets to a provincial championship before defecting to Caledon, has accepted a coaching position in the East Coast to coach Tier II Junior A hockey.
The other interesting development is the slew of Collingwood players signing with the Penetang Kings. Four in total inked sheets while an additional two more come from Wasaga Beach. It’ll be interesting to see how well the Kings do this year. They followed the Kings assistant coach after he moved up the ranks from Collingwood minor hockey.