Douro-Dummer looks to cut arenas deficit in half
Douro-Dummer Township has launched a review of the operating costs for the two township's two community centres, the Douro Community Centre and the Warsaw Community Centre. Township council cited soaring hydro costs in ordering the review at the Sept. 5 township council meeting. The two community centres now operate with a deficit of more than $200,000 a year, according to council's motion. Township council wants township staff to find ways to bring the annual deficit down to around $100,000 a year, despite the increased costs for hydro, an issue that faces many rural arenas including the one in Millbrook. Township staff have been asked to develop a management/ administrative plan and a financial model to cut the operating deficit. The report is expected to be presented to township council by April 15. Council aims to have the plan phased in over time with full completion by the start of 2019. The Lakefield Chiefs, sponsored by Hendren Funeral Homes, won the Cougar Cup as the 2016-17 PJHL junior C Orr Division champions. Team members include (front l-r) Luke Miller, Michael Christie, Shawn Dunbar , Brett Thomson. (Second row l-r) Nick O'Brien, Brent Patterson, Lyndon LeMoire, Nick Hildenbrand, Eric Oosting, Jordan MacLean, Karn Dart. (Third row l-r) Tyler Revoy, Jamie Arcand, Cole Ellis, Ethan McDougall, Mike Connelly, Mitch Ogilvie, Colton Armstrong, Matt McIntyre, Mark Dobranowski, Connor Ellis, Jason Hinze, Steve Mackay, Scott Davidson. (Back l-r) Joe Steenburgh, Aaron Vatcher, Ethan Schott, Jeff Hawthorne.
Braeden Kublick and Zach Treen both played with the Lindsay Muskies last year and have joined the Chiefs to concentrate on their post-secondary education since the PJHL is less of a time commitment than the OJHL, said Arcand.
“Braeden is going to be a great addition. We can already see some leadership qualities. He’s a big strong kid,” Arcand said. “Zach is a forward and he’s also a big kid; he’s about six-four and over 200 pounds. He’s going to be a good fit in our arena. He’s a bang and crash type of kid who has a nice set of hands.”
Adam Meijer played junior B in Ancaser last year and is attending Trent.
“He’s a very gifted player. He won the defensive player of the year in his league last year. He’s every bit as good offensively as he is defensively,” said Arcand.
They have also acquired Peterborough native Cole Robbins, a former Saginaw Spirit draft pick, for their blue-line.
“He’s a real offensive defenceman who put up decent numbers in Lindsay,” said Arcand. “Having those four guys all dropping down a level or two to play with us is a nice bonus.”
The Chiefs have some big pieces returning including goalie Michael Christie, captain Aaron Vatcher, Jeff Hawthorne, Ethan McDougall, Tarren Jank, Mike Connelly, Jordan MacLean, Cole Ellis, Connor Ellis, MatthewMcIntyre,BrentPatterson and Karn Dart.
They dealt Mark Dobranowski to Clarington in exchange for Cavan forward Kevin Smith.
“We hated playing against Kevin so we’re happy to have him,” Arcand said.
Local boy Carson Hartwick played some games as a call-up last year and has signed. He played a handful of games for the CPJHL’s Norwood Nemesis who have relocated this year to Cobourg.
“He was a top five scorer in the high school league last year and he’s got some offence to him,” Arcand said. “He showed it (Tuesday) night with a couple of nice goals (in a 6-3 pre-season win over the Picton Pirates).”
They also signed newcomers Dawson Turcott from the OMHA champion Campbellford midgets, former Rebel Jacob Bennett and Evan Marlowe another out of town player coming here for school.
The Chiefs have lost a couple of players to work commitments in Jayd Killingbeck and Brett Thomson. Will Gagne has given up hockey due to concussions, said Arcand. Back-up goalie Luke Miller was traded to North Kawartha Knights where he’s expected to get more playing time said Arcand. The Chiefs signed Nic Mutton as his replacement.
The Chiefs hope once the university lacrosse season is done that Ogilvie might commit on a parttime basis.
Arcand expects there to be a fair amount of parity within the league and sees no reason why Lakefield can’t be in the thick of the first place battle. With so many new faces it may take a bit to sort out, he said.
“We’re going to probably have some short-term pain for, hopefully, long-term gain just based on so many new guys in the lineup just getting used to each other and getting some line combinations together. I figure in the next month we’ll see exactly what we look like,” he said.
“We’re going to be a competitive team and I think we’re going to be hard to play against. We’ve got an older group as opposed to last year when I kept saying how young we were. We’ve got a much older team this year.”