The Kenora Islanders are just days away from making their debut in the Superior International Junior Hockey League.
The eighth franchise for the Junior A circuit continues to evaluate players and work behind the scenes to get set for the 22nd campaign of the SIJHL.
Team resident Tim Gosnell says that the team will announce the rest of their player signings following the conclusion of training camp Labour Day Weekend.
Gosnell is looking for the team to be competitive out of the gate, adding “In my position as President, I would love to see more kids [from Kenora on the roster]. Our goal is to be a [team] that other programs feed players into. That’s why we are doing our best to support the other programs. [That said] I do think that [the roster] will have the best [player available regardless of where they are from].”
The Islanders have signed a number of players, with four of them coming from Manitoba. Two of those athletes have previous experience in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Behind the bench will be Cody Genaille, who comes to Kenora from The Pas, Man., which is over 600 northwest of Winnipeg. His assistants will be Kenora’s own Jack Bernie and Nathan Bruyere, who comes from Eagle Lake.
The Islanders will play eight of their home games inside the Moncrief Construction Sports Center while the remaining 17 games will be played in the Woodland Arena.
Gosnell is hopeful that the team will soon have a designated home arena for next season.
“We are still having some challenges with the city of getting ice. We don't have a solid home arena yet, and [this has been] a huge challenge, not a fun one that is for sure," he said. "[Hopefully] we can secure the ice time early [next year] and I think that that's the challenge that we're working on now.”
The Islanders will take part in the Sunset Series in Dryden, playing a pair of games against the Red Lake Miners and the Dryden GM Ice Dogs.
Gosnell noted about being involved in the tournament.
“We have had major support from all the [SIJHL] franchises, and of course the league has definitely been instrumental in helping us be able to get the team in, [as well as assist] with the challenges of getting ice in as well. Every other team has reached out, and very happy that we're here.”
In terms of an economic impact to having a Junior ‘A’ franchise in Kenora, Gosnell mentioned “[It] really heavily depends on what our numbers in the arena look like. But [we] know at least one out of town team [will be] coming in for every set of games. You have hotels, restaurants, fuel for the buses; I think it's going to be a great plus [for the community.”
The regular season for the SIJHL includes 196 games as the Islanders play their home opener on Sept. 22nd against the Wisconsin Lumberjacks.
