Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Times Web Design
Commercial Printing
Rainy River Record
FortFrances.com
Poll
SIJHL season underway without Thunder
Wednesday, 12 October 2005 - 12:00am
It became a thing of habit for Brent Tookenay.
Performing general managerial duties for the Borderland Thunder had become second nature to him, like brushing his teeth in the morning or asking his son how his day at school was.
But the Thunder are now defunct, having made that announcement shortly after the end of last season. So does he miss it?
“Yeah, I do,” said Tookenay.
“It’s disappointing because you get into a routine about it,” he added. “And people are going to realize they’re going to miss it, too.”
The Superior International Junior Hockey League already has started its season (they are about 10 games in). And though they lost the Thunder, they were able to keep it a five-team league when the Township of Schreiber stepped to the plate and put forth a team.
The Diesels were brought to life by Bill MacLaurin, who also owns the K&A Golden Hawks. And if you scan over their roster, it might be more suitable to call the team the Fort Frances Diesels.
“Yeah, they should be called that,” laughed Tookenay.
Well, maybe we’re taking things a little far but there were eight players on the team to start the season—Josh Sutherland, Tyler Gosselin, Brett Perrault, Matt McLellan, Nick Wreggitt, Tyler Starling, Darcy Arde, and Blake Starling.
Because most of them played for the Fort Frances Canadians Midget ‘AA’ team last season, Tookenay is concerned they won’t be able to not match up physically with teams like the three-time defending champion Fort William North Stars, who swept the Thunder in last year’s final.
“I don’t know how those players came about playing for Schreiber,” said Tookenay, who received a number of calls from SIJHL teams about players who were with the Thunder last season.
Most of those have gone to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League while players like David Gooch and Dennis Morrison now are with the North Stars.
“There’s a big gap between a Junior ‘A’ player and a Junior ‘B’ player, and an even bigger gap between a Junior ‘B’ player and a high school player,” noted Tookenay.
“There are a lot of men playing on teams like the North Stars and if you put a kid in against them that’s not ready to play them, then that kid could get hurt,” he warned.
“I don’t know how successful they [the Diesels] are going to be as a team [they sport an 0-7 record so far], but as long as they are getting some life experiences and developing their skill, it’s great.
“But are you putting them in a situation where they can’t succeed? I don’t know, but probably not.”
And it seems some of those players became aware of that as Gosselin and the two Starlings have since returned to Fort Frances.
The North Stars are the host team for this season’s Dudley Hewitt Cup (the Ontario Junior ‘A’ championship tournament) and it’s widely known that is one of the few reasons why the SIJHL is still in existence.
But the same problems the league faced in the past have not disappeared.
Attendance remains at anemic levels, sponsors still are hard to come by, and there still is no variety in the league.
The North Stars were the cream of the SIJHL crop last season, with the Thunder and the Dryden Ice Dogs battling for second place (the Thunder swept the Ice Dogs in last year's playoffs).
And since the Thunder are no more, there only are two teams that have a reasonable chance at claiming the championship—the North Stars are 5-1 while the Ice Dogs lead the SIJHL with a surprising 6-0 record.
But Tookenay believes the North Stars soon will take over the league like they did last season.
“The North Stars haven’t gotten any weaker, but it will be hard for them to keep up their motivation,” said Tookenay (the North Stars lost just two games last season in the SIJHL, but fared poorly at the Dudley Hewitt Cup).
It was no secret the Thunder were hoping to be a part of the MJHL this season. But that dream was negated when the SIJHL predictably denied them permission to jump ship.
And after being denied permission by Hockey Northwestern Ontario, the Thunder were preparing to head to court, saying it was unjust for them to have to stay in the SIJHL, where they were losing money, when the MJHL was a place they could make money.
And the MJHL most likely would have taken the Thunder in, given the league had issued a press release at the beginning of the season saying it was looking to expand.
But by the time the Thunder had made their intentions clear and hired a lawyer, and started making arrangements to bring their case to court, it was too late as the MJHL couldn’t afford to wait around for a trial, which surely would have been a drawn-out affair, as it had to draw up its schedules for this season.
So the Thunder held back from a trial, though it would have been interesting to see what kind of verdict would have been reached (it also should be mentioned that the Ice Dogs also were looking to move to the MJHL.
So are the Thunder dead or simply in hibernation?
“It’s tough to put how we’re at,” Tookenay replied. “We know where the interest lies and we don’t want to stir that up, and we want to keep that low-key.
“We’ll see where the league [SIJHL] is going.”
But the way things are going, it seems there might not be a league next year, said Tookenay.
“Every little problem is magnifies into one big problem,” he remarked. “You never want to wish bad on anyone, but there are too many factors that are leading to the disbandment of this league.”
If the SIJHL ceases operations, that could pave the way for the Thunder—or a Junior ‘A’ team out of Fort Frances with some other identity—to wake up and be a part of the MJHL.
»
- Login to post comments
- Email this page
More stories
Still singing the same tune
Why are we still being subjected to listening to this broken record? BT and the Thunder continue to bite at the hand that fed them, even though it was they who chose to quit eating! Quit placing blame on the league and accept that there were plenty of internal reasons why the Thunder are no longer playing! We all are aware of the Thunder were a finanacial disaster, which would appear to be a better explanation for why they didn't aggresively fight to be part of the MJHL. Get over yourself Brent. Your spiteful words towards the SIJHL just make you look like a jealous ex-girlfriend!
Still singing the same tune
I guess that you are still singing the same tune as well. Don't sit there behind your computer and type comments about the thunder when you really have no idea what your talking about. The SIJHL looks about the same as it did last year, 1 excellent team, 1 good team, and the rest of the league teams should classify themselves as Junior B teams. Instead of a 5 team league it really is a 2 team league. Have you looked at the scores? Don't badmouth BT when all he said was that the SIJHL has problems because of the number of teams and those problems are a lot greater with the size of the league. I know for a fact that BT wanted to try and keep the thunder alive, even if it was in the SIJHL because he approached me to help sponsor the team. Save your comments for yourself, or maybe give BT a call and talk to him person to person. BT didn't write the story, the times did and you're the one reading it, so maybe you're the one sounding like the broken record.
Still singing the same tune
Perhaps you are right and I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. I just base my opinions on the information that the league and the Thunder organization allows to be released. I have no idea what back door dealings go on, and if I did maybe I would change my tune. My question to you is, what reasons did you have for turning BT down on his request for sponsorship. My guess is you are a smart businessman and thet you recognize a money pit when you see it!
Money Pit
Yes, that is why I turned him down. Given the state of the SIJHL and the lack of competative teams.........only the Thunder, North Stars and Dryden have maintained quality on their teams. When the bulldogs come to Fort with 10 players and really have not improved the talent on the team, and I see 120 people in the crowd, it is a money pit...the league is not stable. When teams and owners are stopping payment on their cheques for league fees, that doesn't sit well with potential sponsors. Since one owner sponsors two teams, the league is at that owners mercy. If he drops out, there is no league. I think BT put in a lot of time trying to keep it alive in Fort but people and myself are not sold on this league. The league had potential but people in TBay don't realize the costs associated with Fort and Dryden. You need people in the building and that is the bottom line. I went to the MJHL games that Fort had during the 4 years, and the crowds were unbelievable. Yes Couchinching maybe didn't run things in the most effective manner in terms of money, but they did bring Jr A to Fort and had a great run. I want to see it come back to Fort but I really don't think that will happen in the SIJHL. Please don't badmouth someone like BT. He didn't run the team's money. My question to you is this. If the SIJHL is going to survive how can the league allow a team such as Schreiber with the same guy owning 2 teams, to throw together players that can't even make a highschool team and have them compete against teams like the North Stars and Dryden? Is that keeping the league alive or just prolonging it's death? The league alredy has a very weak team in the bulldogs and the golden hawks aren't much better.
One more thing...
Yes, Couchiching brought us the Thunder, but it was actually the SIJHL that brought Jr. A hockey to Fort! Don't forget that!
Invest or Donate
BT can only go in the direction that the people writing the cheques direct him to. He has tried to sell the SIJHL to myself and other investors but we want to invest, not donate. We are not trying to make money, but the chances of breaking even are not good in the SIJHL with only be able to draw crowds for 2 of the 4 teams playing the thunder. BT tried until the bitter end to keep the thunder alive by promoting the dudley hewitt and the chances of the thunder team this year. We would have been a very good team this year considering the returning players. We or should I say myself are not sold on this as I said before. There are too many factors that contribute to the downfall of this league. I travel a lot and the opening weekend of the SIJHL was not even covered by the thunder bay paper. I guess thats nothing new but same old problems. I happened to be in the airport that Sunday and I asked a number of people but many didn't even know that the season had started. Why don't you give me a reason to become an owner in the SIJHL? The thunder had problems with their financies, no question, but they would have been a lot less if the league was more competative. I know that the thunder lost between 30 and 40 K last year because I asked the owners. That is how serious I was in taking over the operations. Why should I buy into the thunder as part of the SIJHL?
Invest or Donate
Are you sure that they were telling the truth about the loss of 30-40k? Maybe they were just trying to get you on board without actually giving you all the information. Have you seen their books? Probably not because there basically is none. Look at how they did the first two years. The arena was at an average 75% for most games. Playoffs were sold out every game. As well, wasn't the Dudley Hewitt Cup in Fort? There were problems with the money from the start. Look at who was running the team... a bunch of ex hockey players that grew up together. Just a bunch of buddies that wanted a team. Then look at what they got out of it over the first two years. I can think of a president that ended up with a new mini-van and a new addition on his house. Something seems strange to me there. They should have had people that were right for the job and not just a buddy who wanted the possition of head coach or g.m. How much experience did BT have in being a G.M. Has he ever done it before all of this? How much experience did Shaun Jourdain have as a president of a Junior hockey club when he started? Probably none.
Invest or Donate
In your wise comments should Couch have paid someone to be the GM or President? That would have been smart. These guys did it on a volunteer basis. The only people paid were the coaches. And for your information BT did not grow up around fort frances, he is from thunder bay area. He was asked to be the GM by Couch so get your facts straight before you start spoutin' off.
Invest or Donate
Hey meathead.(NCD) When you start something new there is a good chance that most people involved won't have experience so if you have all the answers then maybe you should start the team up again and see how it goes. Give me a break. Shaun J din't not finance his house and car through the thunder............if that was the case then the thunder would still be here.
One more thing...
Yes the SIJHL gave Fort a chance to play in a junior A league, but don't forget that Couchiching funded the team, not the SIJHL!