The Premier edition of Views from Section 8

The Sneddon's have been watching hockey from these seats since the days of Bill Barber and the OPJHL's North Bay Trappers. Photo by Lucas Punkari.

"Views from Section 8" is a new column written by Don "Butch" Turcotte. The former Trappers Junior "A" coach and father of Skyhawks head coach Darren Turcotte will be chiming in with his thoughts here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy!

There has been recent talk and print on the attendance at the North Bay Skyhawks games. I took my pen and notepad with me to the game tonight and during the course of the game I made the following stops.

Prior to the game I chatted with Eva Leslie (85 years young). She is a landmark at Memorial Gardens and a season ticket holder for the past 20+ years. She has housed players for the Centennials. Can you give a few names Eva?

"Here are a few that come to the top of my head, Butch. Andrew McBain and Dean Haig were the earlier ones. That was followed by the likes of Peter Abric, Dennis Bonvie, Bill Houlder, Nick Kypreos, Bill Lang, Troy Crowder."

On the attendace numbers at the Skyhawk games: "The fans were pissed off when we lost our OHL Centennials to Saginaw. They got spoilt with the calibre level of play at the OHL and are having difficulty to accept this tier II level of play. Some fans lost interest in the game because of this."

Your comments on this level of play: " This league is a good league to start in if you are not of major calibre. You have to start somewhere. There is more to life than just hockey. This league gives the player a growing up situation with team rules than will help them later on in life, for instance, curfews and a personal competitive aspect that should make you a better individual."

My next stop was after the first period when I visited with Francoise (Frances is 69) and Bill Sneddon (68 years old). They have accupied Section 6 seats A1 and A2 for 40+ years (see picture of them in their seats). I think they built the rink around this couple. Bill remembers the days of the ECHL. The North Bay team lasted 2 years in the mid sixties and Bill said the team had farm team players of several NHL clubs. Then followed the OPJHL North Bay Trappers that had a great local flavour. Then Bert's Centennials and now the NOJHL Skyhawks.

On the current Skyhawk team: "This is what we have so why not support it? The price is right and it is a good night out (and it takes me away from the vacuuming he joked). I believe about 35% of the attendance are retired fans and they keep coming back. There is a missing element of fans from the high school to the 30 age bracket. There seems to be less local players now than when the OPJHL league existed. Tonight's crowd seems to be the smallest of the season. Maybe it's because of tonights opposition. Most of the players on this current edition are here because of the love of the game. Not many will advance in their hockey careers but you never know. Carroll looks good to me as does Fummerton. "

On a side note to the Sneddon stop, Frances is sometimes the 'hot line' for player movement. She is the seamstress for the hockey club and sews on player names on the hockey jerseys. So with the recent player movement she says she had fielded phone calls on such movements. And just recently my wife Sue had Frances tailor a pair of my pants. While the pants were still in her shop, she rushed up to me one Sunday night and gave me a $10.00 bill that she said was left in my trouser pockets. That same night she wins the 50-50 draw. If I remember correctly there was a $20.00 bill in my pants and she used $10.00 of that amount to buy the 50-50 tickets. Does that entitled me to 50% of the take?

On my third stop, I visited with the Ogletree's from Mattawa, who sit in front of me on a regular basis. They are not season ticket holders.

Why the commute for the Sunday evening games: "We enjoy the game of hockey and this is the best calibre that we have at the moment. The players have their schooling paid for and if used correctly it is a good character builder for them. There is competition wherever you go and the Hawks program can help you out down the road. We were Centennials ticket holders but not Skyhawks although we see most of the games. There is a McCrank - Bonvie style player missing on this edition. Last year was so-so but it seems like it is picking up because there are some very skilled players on this team."

Thumbs Up

Kind of feel sorry for the Manitoulin team. What they are going through (coaching change and poor record) does not help for their chemistry.

Shots for the game favored North Bay 43-15 and those are legitimate numbers. A shot on goal is a shot that, not saved, would have been a goal. A shot that is saved by the goaltender which is a foot off the net is not a shot on goal. There is only one Peter Handley on this circuit.

Britton's first NOJHL goal was one of the highlights of the night. Britton is not that skilled but a determined individual. And do you think playing with the Skyhawks will make him a better individual. Gotta believe!

Fummerton's goal (the 5th goal) was a highlight reel one. Worth the price of admission.

Hats off to the Rememberance Day festivities. My eyes got a little damp. My father was one of those that returned from WWII.

The Long Show returned for a familiar version.

How about big brother Brad coming to the rescue of younger brother Tyler. Cost him 10 minutes of playing time though.

And it was a carreer night for Jordan Carroll (3 goals and two assists). I was sitting with the Sneddon's at the time and threw my NBGCC hat on the ice. A linesman retrieved it and threw it in the Hawks bench. Assistant Coach Ian Swalucynski threw it over the bench glass and it landed in Bill's lap. I still have my hat.