Hockey seasons rescued for Frontenac Minor Hockey League and the Frontenac Fury

Sep 09, 2020

The centre of hockey life for Frontenac County youngsters in 2020 will be Tamworth.

When the Frontenac Arena announced it would not open in 2020 because its ice making system could not survive another year before being replaced, the league executive for both Frontenac Minor Hockey (boys) and the Frontenac Fury (girls) began looking around for enough ice time to put a season together.

Luckily, both teams were able to secure ice time at the Stone Mills Recreation Centre.

“We are looking to play a tiered house league loop with Loyalist, Napanee and Stone Mills - all centres within the KFLA health unit,” said Al Pixley, the President of the Frontenac Minor Hockey League, in an email to the News early this week.

“We have secured enough ice at Stone Mills Recreation Centre to run our season. We are running our development for rep players as usual and house league practices as per usual. There will be roughly one scrimmage/ game per week within the local health unit for all players - schedule TBA and Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) has to approve our return to hockey plan.

“The season will start on September 25, with about 3-4 weeks of development. Our plan is to start scrimmages with other centres 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 mid-late October.”

But, Pixley added, things are still changing on a weekly basis as the season approaches. For further information, go to Frontenachockey.ca

“We are pleased to share that we have secured ice time in Tamworth at the Stone Mills Recreation Centre. We are thankful for our ongoing partnership with Stone Mills Township and arena staff in supporting girls’ hockey in Frontenac,” said a new post on the Frontenac Fury website on Tuesday, September 8.

“As we shared recently, the Frontenac Community Arena will remain closed for the upcoming season due to mechanical infrastructure issues. Since then, Frontenac Fury Executive has been working on contingency plans to use alternate ice surfaces to support our house league program.

“We are still working out some details, and we are working on obtaining additional ice time if possible, but we currently have ample ice to offer teams at the U11 (Atom), U13 (Peewee), U15 (Bantam) and U18 (Midget) levels. We will “reopen” registration in a few days using our new RAMP registration system. Registration will also be reduced to $500 per player with associated discounts as before”.

Like the boy’s league, the Fury are focussing on development.

“We are excited to offer players development-focused practices with modified three-on-three or four-on-four games,” said the post. “We will be able to release more information once our return-to-play plan has been approved by the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association. There are going to be several changes to rink routines and what hockey will look like, but we remain focused on a safe and fun experience for players.

“Because we currently have limited ice time, we are asking families to “re-register” their player as soon as registration opens so we can determine if additional ice time is needed. We will be back in touch soon with more information. Thank you for your continued patience and support.”