New junior hockey team sets up in Creemore
The Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League is adding a new team that is to be based in Creemore.
The Creemore Barley Kings are recruiting players born between 2001-1997.
Creemore Barley Kings head coach Dennis Martindale said the arena, the availability of ice time, is the reason the team will set up in Creemore.
“The league tried to come to town last year, from what I understand, and I guess it just didn’t work itself out. I think the biggest issue was that the Siskins gave a little push back and the township backed off a little bit. I know that our owner reached out to the Siskins and communicated with them about what the operation was like and basically wasn’t going to bring a team to Creemore without the Siskins being ok with it. They worked things out and understood that the team wasn’t coming to Creemore to steal players from Stayner and once that was established things started progressing from there.”
Martindale said the owner wishes to remain anonymous at this time.
“Some of the players that play for us will want to try to attend an American university to play college hockey at the NCAA division 3 level or the ACHA division 1 level. So the aspirations and goals of the players that we recruit are different from the ones that Stayner recruits,” said Martindale. “Don’t get me wrong, some of Stayner’s players do want to move on to the OHL or something like that but it’s still a different model than what our players are looking to accomplish in their hockey careers.”
Whereas the Siskins are a Junior C team, the new junior hockey league doesn’t have classifications and is a pay-to-play system.
“We’re hockey for 16-20 year olds and we’ll have players from all over the world that come and play for us but we do want to have some local kids, graduated Midget players from Creemore, Stayner, Collingwood, maybe some Barrie kids,” said Martindale.
He said they scout a lot of players at showcase tournaments in the United States.
“We evaluate them and then we try to convince them that coming to play for our program is going to be in their best interest,” said Martindale. “It’s a grind, trying to find these kids and convincing them that coming to play for us is where they want to be because there is a lot of competition out there for this type of program in North America.”
The league is sanctioned by the United Hockey Union under the American AAU. It was established last year with eight teams and is expanding to 10 or 11 teams this year, said Martindale. There are several league teams within travelling distance.
The team will be looking for billets – Martindale said he has already found a few – and volunteers.
“We want to get as many Creemore and Clearview Township people involved in our team as possible,” he said.
Martindale is a veteran coach and former professional player. Originally from Montreal, he played two seasons of Junior hockey in the Maritime Hockey League before attending the University of Moncton for one year. He then turned pro, competing in France and Germany from 2003-2016. Martindale also held several coaching positions in Europe before joining the staff at Espanola Express (NOJHL) last season as an assistant coach.
Creemore Barley Kings are holding open try-outs at Wasaga Stars Arena in Wasaga Beach June 25-26 for players born 2001-1997. The cost is $175 and players get eight hours of ice time over two days. To register, contact the coach at creemore.gm@gmail.com. Visit www.barleykingshockey.com.
