Highway 78 Series Opens PJHL Sked For Kings, Lakers

The battle of highway 78 returns to the Wallaceburg Memorial Arena tonight.

Two teams looking to bounce back from disappointing campaigns get their first taste of regular season action in the newly minted Provincial Junior Hockey League tonight.

DRESDEN

The Dresden Jr Kings finished an underwhelming seventh in the league (then the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League) last season and were bounced from the playoffs by the powerhouse Blenheim Blades in the opening round.

RETURNING

Dresden has a key contingent of returning players including Dillon Liberty, Kevin Ritzer, Will Tetzlaf, Macks Holmes, Derek Shaw, Steven Funk, Logan Purbrick, Dayne Davis, Alex Hall and recently re-signed d-man Ben Nicholls as well as forwards Phil Clarke and Brock Daugherty. Affiliated player Geoffrey VandenBoorn impressed in his time with the main roster last year and has potential to be a difference maker for this year’s club.

GONE

Missing from this year’s line-up are graduating players Taylor Sisson, Derek Daly and last year’s captain Derrick VanEvery as well as both goaltenders Joel Sowinski and Travis Moore. Dresden lost a slew of talent to the Jr B ranks including rookie of the year Kyle Dawson, Brady Hogg, Isaac MacLean and John Montgomery.

NEW FACES

Additions to the Kings roster include two new goaltenders. Cam MacAlpine was recently acquired from Petrolia and former Wallaceburg Laker Derion Ducedre hope to form a solid tandem between the pipes. Kadin Ritchie was acquired from Wallaceburg for cash considerations. AP’s from last year Tyler Hotham, Kyle Hachey and Ryan Malott will each get a shot to stick with the Kings. Dresden’s 16-year-old is Ridgetown’s Eric Carter.

WALLACEBURG

The Lakers stumbled through their fourth consecutive season without a playoff berth and look to crawl out of the doghouse this year. There has been a rotating door in the Lakers front office and behind the bench in recent years. This year is no different. What is different, is a new ownership group has stepped in to lead the on ice product and financial side of the club. The Byrne Laus Hockey Corporation was introduced earlier this year and has an almost entirely new roster to introduce behind new head coach Joe Byrne Jr.

RETURNING

It’s a short list. Local hockey products Brett Farr, Cory Lucier, Trevor Waller, Justin Melo, Justin Browning, Bronson Bea and Wade Esselment are the only pieces remaining from last year’s squad.

GONE

The Lakers have found new blood, and with those additions, roster spots have disappeared for several former players. Not returning to the Lakers this season are Justin Lindsay, Alex Ritchie, Kadin Ritchie (traded to Dresden), Jackson Gray, Dylan Ryan, Jacob Theoret, Dak Johnstone, Kennan Clark, Chris Hall, goaltenders George Hill and Alex Carriere as well as mid-season departures Brendan Ritchie and George Wood.

NEW FACES

The Lakers are a much larger squad this year, particularly on defence. Belle River’s Colton Coates has been named the captain of the team and is expected to lead the way with his 6’7″ frame. He’s followed on the back-end by 6’6″ Cody Nicolaisen, the 6’3″ Noah Tetrault – brother of the OHL’s Levi Tetrault, 6’2″ Tyler MacLean as well as six-footers Drew Vandehogan, Matt Farrugia. Brantford’s Brayden Kettlewell comes with offensive upside as well. Additional new faces include Justin Cummings of Windsor, Tilbury’s Nick Tetreault, Bothwell’s Dale McMaster, Chatham’s Nick Farrugia and Dryden’s Josh Oberg. Wallaceburg, like Dresden, also has two new goaltenders to start the year. Chatham’s Zach Lindley is expected to be the starting goaltender, a former AAA major midget backstop in Windsor. Max Lozon will also fight for playing time in the ‘Burg. Noaln Farr of Sombra is Wallaceburg’s 16-year-old.

If you can’t make it to the rink tonight, listen in to live play-by-play with 99.1 CKXS, online at www.ckxsfm.com