HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-04-20, Page 5It's a go with the Seaforth Generals
Huron East's most recent hockey team 1 1
if is opening up shop and recruiting
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
The contract is signed and
it's official, the Seaforth Gen-
erals have a place to call
home.
This is one of four new
teams released to the pub-
lic by the most recent
league known as the Cana-
dian Premier Junior Hockey
League (CPJHL). The other
three teams are the Grey
Highlands Hawks from
Markdale, Ont., the Cold-
water Falcons from Cold-
water, Ont. and the
Muskoka Wild who are set
to play out of Port Carling,
Ontario. An additional four
more teams will be
revealed, in the next com-
ing days also.
On Apri115, the three own-
ers walked into the Seaforth
& District Community Cen-
tre sporting dress shirts and
the pants to match. Three
signatures later and the trio
were already checking out
the ice surface and walking
in the stands brainstorming
ideas for the 2016-2017 sea-
son. What's next for the
Generals?
"Recruiting" replied one
of the three owners of the
Seaforth Generals, T.J.
Runhart.
He said they currently
have a scouting staff of
seven experienced hockey
experts that search the
globe country by country.
"A very multicultural
bunch." The first signed
player is a goalie from Fin-
land and that's expected to
be locked up in the next
day or so. The General's
mentioned that there is
more potential in the
Huron East area and the
A couple of local products (from) around
the Seaforth area are jumping on board
that have played pretty high-level
hockey,"
— said T.J. Runhart, one of the three
owners of the Seaforth Generals.
talent stretches as far as
Kazakhstan, Belarus and
Texas amongst several
other locations.
"A couple of local products
(from) around the Seaforth
area are jumping on board
that have played pretty high-
level hockey," Runhart told
the Expositor.
It's a 'pay to play' league
that focuses specifically on
junior hockey players and
provides potential recruiting
possibilities for NCAA,
NJCAA and CIS college
coaches.
"A kid can drive from
Toronto, we're not going to
give him a dollar. But if he's
willing to come here and get
to the next level, then we are
going to do our darnedest as
the owners to make sure
(that happens)," stated
Runhart.
"School comes first,
hockey comes second. At
the same time, we are here
to develop their game,
which is educated based.
Anytime a kid can play a
sport and get schooling
paid for is a big bonus," he
stated relating to if players
are accepted on scholar-
ships for post -secondary.
The remaining two own-
ers are brothers Tom and
Matt Flessatti, from Olds
Alb. Both are somewhat
familiar with the small-
town life-style and said
they are working day in and
day out to get this project
rolling successfully. To
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 • Huron Expositor 5
The Seaforth Generals owners, Matt Flessatti and T.J. Runhart at
the Seaforth & District Community Centre putting the finishing
touch on their ice contracts.
achieve their goal the sib-
lings have one simple
answer, "fast paced, high
action hockey?'
"We had a Junior hockey
team in our town. We
brought everybody together
as a community and that's
what I'm looking to do in
Seaforth," said Tom.
The Generals will not end
all the discussion that has
been circulating around the
Municipality of Huron East
pertaining to the recent talk
of ice cost. However, Lisa
From the left is Matt Flessatti, T.J. Runhart, Lisa Campbell and Tom Flessatti at the Seaforth & District Community Centre.
Campbell, the Seaforth and
District Community Cen-
tre's board chair, said this
will hush the conversations
down a tad.
"I don't know how much it
will change the talks. There is
still a lot of work to be done
with recreation, but the
Arena Board here has been
working very hard to
increase revenue," she said
after providing the Generals
with arena contracts.
"This is a good fit for our
centre and our town. It's just
another addition to the
hockey we provide:'
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