It may be the dog days of summer, but don’t try selling that concept to Innisfil Lakers general manager Dan Garneau.
The Journal dropped into Garneau’s Cookstown office morning while he was bringing Bob Russell, president of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL), up-to-date with recent signings and acquisitions.
“I think the Lakers will be the team to beat this year,” Russell says.
First off the face-off, the Lakers have a new coaching staff in place for the 2008-2009 season.
“We’ve brought in Shane Hicke, originally from Saskatchewan, who is moving here from Las Vegas,” Garneau says. “He comes from a strong hockey family. His father is former NHLer Ernie Hicke and his uncle is Bill Hicke, who played for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers. Shane played NCAA hockey.”
The Lakers will have another local rival in the new season too, with the launch of the Oro-Medonte 77’s team. Other new faces in the GMHL are the Minden River Kings and the Ville Marie Dragons, replacing teams from Douro and Temiskaming. The Richmond Hill Rams have been reborn as the Ontario Lightning Rams, Garneau adds.
A number of players from last year’s Lakers team have signed on with a number of American colleges, including Darcy Vallincourt, Matt Treadwell, Ralph Naval and Chase Tippin. Jonathen Dew is likely to head off to the U.S. college ranks as well.
“We have five players invited to Major Jr. A camps and Mattias Arvastsson is attending a pro camp in Richmond, Virginia. There’s about 10 players moving on to the next level when all the dust settles.”
The Lakers have a raft of returning players from last year’s squad, which bowed out in the championship series to the Bradford Rattlers. The list features Connor Hendry who was named the best defensive forward in the league last season and local skaters Robert Haney, Garrett Simmons and Derek Dalziel. Tyler Roache and captain Anthony Gambacorta are returnees, too.
New faces in the lineup will be a pair of 20-year-old defensemen from British Columbia – Andrew Peterson and Dustin Timm. They will be joined by 18-year-old Manny Lopez and forward Brian Davidson.
“We have two stud AAA players coming to camp, too – 17-year-old Max Douglas who scored more than 120 points last year and 18-year-old Calub Lister,” Garneau says. “We’ve got a lot of firepower coming in and our defense has been improved. We also drafted a local goaltender, Kyle Runge. His dad is a former pro football player. We’re very excited to have Kyle. We hope to sign him in the next few weeks and hope he’s our goalie of the future.”
With the Innisfil Recreation Centre nearing completion, Russell says final touches on the team’s dressing room and offices are underway.
“We’re excited about it,” Russell says. “Training camp opens in August and the Lakers home opener will be Sept. 19 against Bradford.”
The Lakers will even have a local time slot on Rogers TV in the fall as part of a weekly show called “Inside the GMHL.’
It will be televised on Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
“The show is a great way to promote our league,” Garneau says.
