The group proposing a Junior B hockey team in Collingwood will connect with the Owen Sound Attack for player development support.
Paul Jeffrey, Mark Thompson, and Andy Pritchard will be the owners of the potential Junior B team, dubbed the Collingwood Admirals, and they’ve received support and advice from former mayor Terry Geddes for the proposal. Jeffrey and Pritchard are both former career hockey players and Pritchard has been a coach and volunteer for local minor hockey for the last 10 years.
Pritchard said The Attack would be a “big brother” team for the new Admirals. The Attack would remain in a different league, and initial talks between the team’s leadership were geared toward a partnership that supports things like player development, scouting, and coach and management mentorship.
“Our intention here is to run very separately and create our own identity,” said Jeffrey. “That’s why we’re the Collingwood Admirals.”
The group has had a dream to bring junior hockey back to Collingwood for the past couple years.
“[The league] reached out and offered us a franchise, and we were ecstatic,” said Pritchard. “We believe what we have to offer is the best fit.”
The Junior B team in Collingwood would be part of the Midwest Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, which includes eight other teams in about a two-hour drive radius including teams in Brampton, Kitchener, Waterloo, and Elmira.
The team behind the Admirals hopes to start training and playing in the 2019/2020 season, with home games on weekends at the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena. They haven’t set a time for regular practice times yet. Pritchard said they want to reach out to other users like minor hockey and figure skating to find a time that works in the ice schedule.
“We all believe Junior B is the best fit because it gives us the best chance for local kids to play junior hockey,” said Jeffrey. He and Pritchard said there were about 20-22 kids from the local area already playing Junior B who could play on the Collingwood team.
“What’s important is we provide something in this community so kids don’t have to leave home,” said Pritchard. “And that’s Junior B hockey.”
According to Jeffrey and Pritchard, players from Junior B teams can go on to play NCAA level hockey, university-level hockey, and sometimes to the Ontario Hockey League or major juniors.
Junior B hockey rosters include players aged 16-20, so the team behind the Junior B proposal is also reaching out to local high schools to make sure the education component is there from players who are from out of town.
“There’s going to be no hockey here without very credible schooling here too,” said Pritchard.
Terry Geddes, former mayor of Collingwood and principal of Collingwood Collegiate Institute has missed junior hockey in Collingwood since the Blues (later the Blackhawks) folded in 2011.
The Blues operated as a Junior B team 1993 when it was changed to a Junior A team.
“Junior B is the best fit because that’s our history,” said Geddes. “The Attack is a perfect affiliation because numerous fans from Collingwood go watch The Attack.”
The Collingwood Admirals is one of two bids the town received Feb. 1 for a junior hockey team based out of the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena.
A Tier II Junior A team called the Collingwood Colts has also been proposed, with the backing and shared ownership of the Barrie Colts.
Parks, Recreation and Culture Director Dean Collver said staff is working on a report for council’s Corporate and Community Services Standing Committee on March 4. Collver said there will be an opportunity at that meeting for each of the team’s ownership to make a presentation to the committee.
