Weekend junior B roundup: Meet Emelie Ficht
Emelie Ficht doesn’t think of herself as a trailblazer or a pioneer.
The 26-year-old Woodstock native is thought to be the first female general manager of a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League team, but that’s not how Ficht sees her role as the GM of the Pelham Panthers.
“Sometimes it pops into my head but at the end of the day I don’t think of it like that,” Ficht said. “It’s Emelie doing this job and I’m here to do it the same way anybody else would do it. I try not to think of it like that.”
Ficht, the step-daughter of new Panthers owner Wes Gee, was named assistant general manager when Gee purchased the club outright earlier this season and quickly worked her way up to GM after only a few weeks.
“Emelie is here based on her ability,” Gee said. “She’s very gifted.”
Ficht graduated from Wilfrid Laurier with a degree in economics and a master’s degree in business economics which Gee feels is a huge plus in the ever-changing world of hockey.
“All along through her education she was taught to be an independent thinker, a problem solver. Hockey is for the young and people who are young interact differently than people who are older,” he said. “It’s a young sport, it’s a changing sport, it’s a dynamic sport. I played a game 40 years ago that’s a different game than today. The thing I look at in this organization is I want fresh ideas and I want thinkers. I don’t want someone to tell me something I would think myself.
“We need a young support staff with a completely open mind, a completely blank canvas that they can paint the picture together. I don’t want it to be the way we did it.”
Ficht joined the Panthers after working the last two years as a director of operations for a hotel.
“Obviously, it’s not hockey related but I’ve had a team that I worked really closely with and led so I think I gained a lot of skills that I can bring to the table here,” she said.
Ficht’s interest in hockey blossomed while following her brother and former Panther Jason Gee.
“I was a really big fan and each year I started helping a little bit more,” she said.
Ficht’s role with the Panthers includes everything from day-to-day operations to working with the staff on player transactions.
“I work very closely with the staff when it comes to players. Any trades we were talking about, we talked about them together, we watched video together, we reached out to other teams together and made sure we were all on the same page and made sure they were a good fit for our team and our culture,” Ficht said.
Ficht loves her position.
“I can’t say I ever quite envisioned myself here but I certainly wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said. “It’s really exciting. There’s lot to learn and it’s exciting to see our players develop and be successful. At the end of the day, we’re here for them, to ensure they’re successful both on and off the ice and help them get to where they want to be. Whatever their goals are, we’re here for that.”
She also appreciates the environment in organization and the acceptance by the staff and players.
“It’s huge. I’m super grateful to have my dad supporting me and everyone is awesome. They let me say what I think and they listen and if it makes sense, they’re open to my ideas. It’s really, really nice they accept me. Our staff is incredible, they’re really supportive and anything that comes up, we work through it together”
The Panthers dropped a pair of games this weekend, 3-0 at Caledonia Saturday and 7-3 at home to the St. Catharines Falcons Sunday afternoon.
Brayden Russell, Evan Bradacs and Steve LaForme scored for the Corvairs while Niagara IceDogs draft pick Finn Wilson made 29 saves for the shutout.
Sunday in Pelham, Tyler Hunt had a pair of goals while Caleb Thompson added a goal and three assists for the Falcons. Matthew Hlacar, Dylan Pergentile and Brenden Anderson also scored.
Max Schaubel had two goals and Connor Clark one for Pelham. Noah Aboflan assisted on all three.
Kilty B’s 3 Meteors 2 OT
Brett Henderson scored 6:52 into overtime to give the Hamilton Kilty B’s a win at Fort Erie Saturday.
Owen King and Dean Deligeorgis gave the Kilty B’s a 2-0 lead before the Mets tied the game on goals by Owen Penny and Liam Beamish.
Vlad Visan made 28 saves for the win.
Charlie Burnes faced 26 shots for Fort Erie.
Junior Canadians 7 Sailors 2
The Welland Junior Canadians climbed to within one point of the Port Colborne Sailors for sixth place with a convincing win at home Sunday night.
Cooper Reid paced Welland with two goals and two assists while Christiano Stogiannis, Will LePage, Joshua Cacciola, Jonathan Iwanyszyn and Jack Ryan added singles.
Stanley Mannella made 27 saves for the shutout.
Gavin Torkoff netted his first junior goal for Port while P.J. Alexander also scored.
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY
Fort Erie at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Port Colborne at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Welland at Pelham, 7:45 p.m.
SATURDAY
Port Colborne at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
St. Catharines at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
Caledonia at Pelham, 2:45 p.m.
Hamilton at Welland, 7 p.m.
STANDINGS
1. Caledonia 27-7-0-1-55
2. Fort Erie 26-8-1-0-53
3. St. Catharines 25-10-1-1-52
4. Hamilton 18-16-4-0-40
5. Pelham 12-23-1-1-26
6. Port Colborne 10-21-4-1-25
7. Welland 11-25-2-0-24
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