After a sometimes trying season with a very young team rebuilding toward past glory, the Wingham Ironmen are ready to make a big leap forward this season.
General Manager Rob Harrison says he thinks the team is ready to contend now, and that this year's Ironmen are gunning for the title. The team iced one of the youngest rosters around last year, and carry a number of promising players in their junior hockey primes that should be ready to take big strides and propel the Ironmen up the standings from their 6th place Pollock Division finish in 2016-17.
At the forward positions, the Ironmen have a number of fast, skilled young players who learned the rigors of the league last year, and will surely continue to gel this year under new head coach, Corey Hamilton, who coached the Silver Stick winning Kincardine Midget team last year. Hamilton was previously an assistant with the club back when they dominated the old Western Junior C loop in 2014-15, and will employ an up-tempo, in-your-face forecheck that lends itself well to the players at his disposal. Logan Toltan and Brad Randson tied for the team lead in scoring with 20, and showed flashes of players who could well eclipse point-per-game totals this year. Ethan Long and Josh Stewart had 19 and 18 points respectively, and GM Rob Harrison says people should expect big things from Shane Vollmer, who joined the team from Kincardine last year for 8 games, scoring 4 points. Shane's younger brother Rhys, who captained the Kincardine Midget team last year, will also join the fold, bringing needed leadership qualities and possible chemistry with his older brother. The Ironmen got a massive boost as well in the form of former Ironmen star Jamie Huber announcing his return. Huber posted 41 goals and assists in his junior rookie year of 2013-14, before moving on to a stellar Junior B career in Listowel. His big game experience and Cherrey Cup journey will help bring this young group to another level.
On the back end, the Ironmen have more young weapons ready to step more into the limelight. Carter Collinson had a stellar season, posting 17 points in 33 games, and any time a young d-man puts up better than half a point-per-game, that signals big things, which is what Coach Hamilton will be counting on. Harrison says Collinson is already adept at quarterbacking a power play, and he thinks he could potentially be a top-scoring d-man this season. Joining Collinson is the ever-reliable Blake Buchanan, who is a sturdy defender and managed to chip in 9 points, and Carter Stewart, who was always willing to be involved physically and put up 8 points. Harrison says to watch out for Jack Morris, who is physically menacing and can get up the ice well, too. Morris had just 6 points in 26 games, but had 112 penalty minutes, which shows pretty clearly what type of player he can be. Intimidating, and no fun to play against. Combine him with a returning Jared Logan, and the Ironmen won't get pushed around easily in their end.
In the crease, the Ironmen will look to a young goalie, much like they did last year with Alex Metzger, who was very solid in 24 appearances, posting 6 wins on a rebuilding squad and nearly logging 1,300 minutes. Metzger is moving on to Junior B with the St. Marys Lincolns, and his backup from last year, Patrick Do, will also not return. So, the Ironmen have gone for youth again, signing Jamie Brock out of the Kincardine Midget program that Corey Hamilton coached. Brock was the backbone of the Silver Stick champs, and looks to be another great young talent that could take Junior C by storm. To shore up the blue paint, the Ironmen acquired Kyle Morning via trade with Woodstock. Harrison says he loves Morning's size at 6'5", 200 pounds, and expects him to have no problem adjusting to shooters in the Pollock Division. Morning is a product of the vaunted Huron-Perth Lakers program, and was previously team mates with Carter Collinson and Jack Morris, so chemistry will be there right away. Harrison is confident this young goalie duo can help lock down a high place in the standings for his young, exciting team.
For more thoughts on the upcoming Wingham Ironmen season, listen to the full-length interview with GM Rob Harrison:
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