Thorold Minor Hockey iced out the competition this season and skated its way to a triple victory, as the U13 BB, U13 LL1, and U18 BB teams all became Niagara District champions.
“It was just a really, really good all-around season,” says the president of the minor hockey association, Mike DeGasperis, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “A lot of good development took place. I think for whatever reason the kids just gelled and they gelled at the right time.”
DeGasperis points out that the victories were a team effort.
“It’s everything from the commitment of the kids and their families to coaching staff making a huge difference,” says DeGasperis. “Honestly, I’ve seen it in the past. For a lot of these Thorold teams, they’re either really strong all year or for whatever reason they seem to gel after Christmas and the sky is the limit heading into playoffs, which isn’t a bad thing. They kind of turn it on at the right time.”
For the U18 BB and U21 teams, another exciting competition awaits as they have both qualified for the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) playoffs.
“The OMHA is the route teams want to go because that’s kind of like going to the Stanley Cup,” says DeGasperis. “That’s the big competition, that’s where the kids want to go and the coaches strive for.”
COVID-19 still loomed large over this year’s hockey season as hockey practice was put on ice for a few weeks in January, but DeGasperis is hopeful better days are ahead.
“Ideally, it would be amazing if we could say that COVID was behind us,” he says. “In terms of our programming, heading into next season we’re full-tilt 150 percent programming. I think everyone in our association is looking forward to a season that is COVID-free so to speak, and we can just have a good time and get back to our regularly scheduled programming.”
This was also the last season the teams were able to play the James Whyte Arena, since the city has decided to decommission the ice.
“Myself, as a kid, I grew up in that arena,” says DeGasperis. “It’s a great little arena even though it’s older and it needs some work. It is sad. But things are looking good with the Canada Games rink. It’s too bad that we couldn’t have that kind of dual rink still in Thorold, but I understand that things get to a point where you have to move on and make changes, and that is okay too.”
As to what makes Thorold Minor Hockey such an important pillar of the Thorold community, DeGasperis has a clear answer.
“I can go back to when I was a kid,” he says. “There was just so much passion for the game. The one thing I’ve noticed over the 21 years that I’ve been involved in hockey is that the commitment seems to be much more intense these days. Kudos to all the families and kids that put in the time and the effort to make it what it is. All our volunteers, our coaching staff, our parent volunteers—all those people really help with the programming and make it go round. They’re the reason it’s so successful.”
