Falcons gearing up for opener
It has been an unusual off-season for the St. Catharines Falcons.
Not only has general manager/coach Frank Girhiny had to plug holes on the roster due to several top notch players graduating or moving on to higher levels, but the club wasn’t really even sure what conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League it would be part of.
The answers to both questions appear to slowly be coming into focus.
According to Girhiny, the Falcons will be playing in the Golden Horseshoe Conference of the GOJHL as normal despite an attempt by 15 teams, including the Falcons, to play in a separate conference of the GOJHL.
“Everything is status quo,” Girhiny said before taking to the ice at Jack Gatecliff Arena Wednesday. “Obviously, it appears we will be all playing together this year with some speculation that there will be some changes as the year goes on and they will revamp everything for next year.
“As is stands now, we’re in the Golden Horseshoe and happy to be there. We have some great rivalries against Thorold and Niagara Falls. It hasn’t affected us from a hockey operations standpoint.”
With that question seemingly answered — at least for the time being — Girhiny has been busy getting his club ready for their season opener Friday, Sept. 14 at home versus the Niagara Falls Canucks.
The club still has 29 players in camp and Girhiny continues to be in pursuit of even more.
“I’m fielding calls every hour from quality representatives, advisors, OHL teams. With all these players graduating to a higher level, that’s the best sell we can have,” he said. “It’s different and it’s a lot of work.
“It’s finding the right guys, we just don’t want to take anybody.”
The Falcons lost six key players to graduation from last season including Lukas Smilsky, Tyler MacArthur (Brock), Mike Davies (Laurier), Liam Dunda (Queen’s) and Owen Savory (RPI).
What Girhiny wasn’t planning on was losing four more important assets — Tristian deYoung (Moncton), Arber Xhekaj (Kitchener) Marcus Gillard (Erie) and Carson Edwardson (Drummondville) — late in the game.
“It’s part of the process. I’ve never had this many players go just before a season starts, but it is what it is,” Girhiny said. “I’m starting to see what happens when you run a good program and a good organization.
“Am I worried about it? No.”
Girhiny said there is no panic in the organization.
“We like what we have. We have some young guys and some guys that have come in,” he said. “By no means are we a depleted hockey club, but it’s just not where we thought we would be going into the first week of the season.”
The Falcons will play an exhibition game versus Niagara Falls Saturday before having a full week of practices to tune up for the opener.
“If we start a little slower than in previous years, that’s fine. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. For us as coaches, it challenges us a little more to make sure we’re on top of our game,” Girhiny said.
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