Rookies, veterans set to take on big roles with Thunderbirds

The team is nine days from its main tryout camp and just two weeks from exhibition action, so the season is coming quickly for the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Soo Thunderbirds.

Recruiting during the summer is the “toughest issue” for the team during the summer in preparation for the new season.

“The biggest job is recruiting,” said Thunderbirds coach John Parco. “It’s just becoming tougher and tougher to recruit kids to play. We’ve been relying on a lot of local players and we want to take as many local players as we can. You want to keep the kids home but yet there are still people that think the grass is greener on the other side. There’s constant movement from the Thunderbirds to other leagues and at the same time you’re trying to convince kids from sometimes even other countries like the US or from other leagues to come to us. It’s not always an easy job.”

The team has four rookies signed for the upcoming season, including a pair in Brock Santa Maria and Stephen Pszeniczny who played games for the team last season.

“They’re local kids that we want to give an opportunity to and we have to rely on them right away,” Parco said of the two. “There’s no such thing as rookies in this league. When we sign you, you’re expected to play, and you’re put into a position to play. It is what it is. It’s just the way that it is because there’s so much turnover in the NOJHL.”

Parco called the experience the two players got last season a “huge help.”

“They know what to expect and they should be able to adapt really early in the season,” Parco said.

With a number of veterans signed, the team also expects big things from returning netminder Colin Ahern.

In 30 regular season games in 2018-19, Ahern posted a 26-6-0-0 record, a 2.55 goals against average and a 0.919 save percentage.

He proceeded to go 9-4-1 in the playoffs with a 2.79 GAA and 0.903 save percentage in 15 playoff games as the Thunderbirds advanced to the NOJHL final before losing in seven games to the Hearst Lumberjacks.

“That was huge because we know what he can do,” Parco said of getting Ahern back. “We know that he’ll give everything he has so it’s huge to have him back.”

In addition to Ahern, the team is set to return a handful of veterans, including Nick Smith, Camden Findlay, Avery Rebek, Nolan Ford, and Tristan Cicchello.

“They’re going to be our core, they’re going to be our leaders,” Parco said. “They know what to expect, they’re going to play a lot and they’re going to be a big part of the team.”

The Thunderbirds take the ice at the John Rhodes Community Centre for main camp on Aug. 24 at 10:30 a.m. with a pair of skates scheduled for the day, the second set for 6:30 p.m.

A pair of exhibition games are also scheduled for the team with the first being against the Soo (Mich.) Eagles in a 12:30 p.m. puck drop at the John Rhodes. The second game is the following night, also at the John Rhodes, and scheduled for 6 p.m.

The team opens regular season action on Sept. 7 at the John Rhodes against the Eagles.