Tecumseh Submits Junior C Application
The ice at Tecumseh Arena could be home to a new Junior C team as early as next season, if their application is approved – Photo from Tecumseh.ca
Although he chose not to comment at this time, Great Lakes Junior C convenor Jeff Beatty did confirm that the OHA has received an application from the town of Tecumseh for a Junior C franchise.
“I do know that an application for a Jr. C team has been submitted for Tecumseh,” Beatty wrote CKSN. “OHA has not given out any details whatsoever other than an application has been submitted.”
Junior hockey last existed in Tecumseh in 2007-2008 when the Junior B Tecumseh Chiefs won the GOJHL Western Conference title, and went on to win the Sutherland Cup.
The team relocated from Tecumseh following that season, to become the current LaSalle Vipers.
Tecumseh chose to relocate their franchise in part due to low attendance, which was partially attributed to the close proximity of the OHL Windsor Spitfire’s WFCU Centre, which opened in 2008, and sits only 4km from Tecumseh Arena.
Tecumseh currently is home to a minor hockey system, known as the Tecumseh Shoreline Minor Hockey Association Eagles.
The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), along with the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League’s current membership will need to vote on the application this offseason. Decisions of this nature typically come in April.
The last time an Essex County community applied for a new Junior C franchise, which came from Amherstburg, the league shot down the application siting a lack of “League support and fears of impacting on existing members in the immediate area.” Amherstburg later acquired a Junior C team via relocation of the Kingsville Comets.
Essex County currently is home to three Junior C teams, the Essex 73s, Lakeshore Canadiens, and Amherstburg Admirals, with the Wheatley Sharks sitting on the border, and the Blenheim Blades annually drawing players from Essex County as well. Also, Essex is home to the Junior B Leamington Flyers and LaSalle Vipers, and the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires.
The Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League currently has 9 franchises in its membership.
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