It was just days before the end of the Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season and there was Jim Wilson Couchiching Terriers Junior A general manager Roy Micks sitting in an Orillia sports bar, exchanging hockey talk with some of the locals.
The mood was upbeat and Micks was clearly enjoying the fact that the Terriers were heading into the playoffs on a very high note.
On March 3, the high hopes crumbled to dust with a game seven loss to the Orangeville Crushers.
So what went wrong?
Well actually … nothing.
Upsets happen in hockey and this was one of those moments.
But I had a sense that maybe expectations had been set too high in the eyes of local hockey fans, given Couchichiching’s impressive 38-win regular season.
Any fan, or journalist for that matter, can get just a little intoxicated by that kind of success. And since we are talking about an under-21 team, it’s easy for that kind of success to go to the heads of young hockey players as well.
It seemed to go to the heads of some of my fellow members of the journalism community, who seemed absolutely devastated by the Terriers overtime loss to Orangeville. I guess objectivity can take a holiday every now and then.
But thinking back to that evening in the sports bar, the phrase ‘Royal Bank Cup’ was being thrown around with wild abandon.
For those who aren’t informed, the Royal Bank Cup is the Holy Grail of Canadian Tier 2 Junior A hockey.
Chasing it is a hockey torture test like no other.
Just ask Orillia residents Adam Lewis and Mitch Caouette, both members of the 1985 Orillia Travelways, the last team to bring a national junior hockey title to the Sunshine City.
The 2008-09 Terriers found out just how bruising playoff hockey can be, and to their credit the players tried to rise above the pain.
But it wasn’t to be and there is no shame in losing, though the shock of leaving the ice after such a spectacular season takes some time to wear off.
Major credit has to go to Greg Hotham, Randy Salmon, Dylan Seca and the previously mentioned Micks for assembling a team that gave local fans a tremendous year.
While many of the rest of us were thinking about suntans, golf scores and weekend trips to the cottage or beach, these men sacrificed a good part of their summer in the name of scouting and recruitment.
They should be proud of their efforts.
With one season of learning and in-depth study of the organization behind him in Rama, I sincerely hope Hotham returns to guide the team next year.
I like his calm, but firm approach to the game. He’s a coach who is always looking for improvement in players.
His experience will set him up well for the challenges the Couchiching Terriers will face over the next five months, as the club begins its work towards a new season.
It wasn’t the championship season Terriers fans were hoping for, but this group of young men and their coaches sure had the town talking.
Local interest in junior hockey has been rekindled under the direction of a management team that more than likely will ice another competitive team next season.
For that we offer a collective thank you.
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