Don’t sleep on senior hockey–it’s a good product

NPHL logo

Here’s a little secret. For your hockey dollar and enjoyment, there is probably no better value than senior hockey.

In Chatham-Kent there are two options; the Tilbury Bluebirds of the Northern Premier Hockey League, and the Ridgetown Royals of the American Premier Hockey League.

Here’s a few reasons why senior hockey is worth your attention.

Community

Most of the senior hockey teams hail from small centres, such as Petrolia, Alvinston, Strathroy, Tilbury and Ridgetown.

Nothing against the big towns, we’re still hayseed enough to say hey look who’s in the big town, but there is nothing that can compare to community spirit of small towns.

A packed arena on a Saturday night, watching good hockey with friends and family, it doesn’t get better than that.

Talent

The NPHL has a lot of talent, with former Junior B stars, college hockey players, players with Ontario Hockey League experience and others with professional experience.

Former NHLer Brandon Brandon Prust plays for the Strathroy Jets. The London native played nearly 500 games in the National Hockey League for the Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks. Rob Schremp, who played with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders, also plays for Strathroy.

Blenheim’s Jamie Schaafsma, who played professional hockey in Europe and across North America for 14 years, still laces them up with Alvinston.

Senior hockey is way above your local beer league. It’s fast-paced and competitive.

Good product

Part of the reason why the local senior hockey teams are worth your money, is that there is a huge volunteer and fan base in place.

Teams spend a good amount of time on promotion and giving fans a decent experience.

Tilbury is locked in a playoff series with Alvinston. Going into tonight’s game, the quarterfinal is tied up at one game apiece. Game four is tomorrow night (Sunday) in Tilbury.

Alvinston is the favourite, but that’s why they play the games, anything can happen.

Ridgetown is the only Canadian club in the 10-team American Premier Hockey League, which also has franchises in Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana. The league bills itself as semi-pro, and is affiliated with the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL).

In their first-season in the APHL, Ridgetown is experiencing success, sitting in first place in the Eastern Division with a 16-4-0-0 record. The Royals regular season finishes up on March 7, and they have already clinched a first seed in the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin on March 13.

If there is a downside of the senior hockey leagues in Ontario, it’s that there are different leagues and teams, and it seems every off-season there are a changes. There’s the APHL (Ridgetown), the NPHL (Tilbury), and other leagues such as the Ontario Elite Hockey League.

With all the different leagues and mergers, it can be confusing following the different levels of senior hockey in Ontario, and it’s hard for rivalrys to exist and grow, but that’s another story for another time. Hopefully the powers that be have a vision for senior hockey that is sustainable and can make the product grow and prosper.