The Dresden Kings and the Wallaceburg Lakers are set to battle in the opening game of the season on Wednesday night. It will also be both teams inaugural game in the newly formed Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) Stobbs Division.
New era for the Jr. ‘C’ league
All of the hockey leagues previously competing at the Junior ‘C’ level in the Ontario Hockey Association are now under the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) banner.
The nearly 1,500 players on the 63 teams competing for the Clarence Schmalz Cup each spring are now all in one league, formed with the goal of ensuring they all benefit from a similar high-end hockey experience as close to home as possible.
For Dresden and Wallaceburg, and the other teams in the former Great Lakes Junior ‘C’ Hockey League, their new division is named after Bill Stobbs.
Born in Leamington, Stobbs began his career in the OHA as the President of the Chatham Pontiacs Senior Hockey Team in 1979-1981 as well as an executive member of the Allan Cup Champion Petrolia Squires in 1979.
His work as Chairman for the Great Lakes Junior C League was invaluable, as he helped to re-write the league’s constitution back in 2008.
New-look Lakers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV5pSfK6Wvc
The Wallaceburg Lakers underwent a complete organizational overhaul in the off-season.
A new ownership group, new management team, new coaching staff, new logo and new players on the ice has generated some buzz in the community about the squad… coinciding with a new marketing push as well.
The team is hoping to end a five-year drought by making this playoffs this upcoming season.
Check out the team’s opening night roster here.
Veteran Kings squad
The Dresden Kings have many familiar faces with the team for the 16/17 season.
Players like Macks Holmes, Kevin Ritzer, Dillon Liberty, and Derek Shaw will all be suiting up with the maroon and white of the Kings again this year.
Rob Vanderydt will handle the head coaching duties for the team.
Click here to see their full roster.
More notes about the opening game
– The team’s will be exclusively using Parker’s Pucks during the game, and they will be giving away an additional puck every five minutes during the game (Learn more about Parker’s Pucks here.)
– There will be a special ceremony before the game and a special guest dropping the puck
– The game gets underway at 7:30 p.m.
– File photo credit: Jocelyn McLaughlin
