Avalanche buried in nostalgia
Junior B franchise starting 2018-19 season as Hamilton Kilty B’s
Junior hockey is returning to the Dave Andreychuk-Mountain Arena next season.
The junior B Ancaster Avalanche is leaving Morgan Firestone Arena and moving to the Hester Street rink where they will be known as the Hamilton Kilty B’s in honour of the junior squad that played there several years ago.
“It’s called the
Kilty B’s reboot,” said team owner and Burlington businessman Tim
Wilson, who has purchased the rights to the name and logo from Stu Hyman, who bought the Kiltys in 2002 and renamed them the Red Wings before moving the franchise to Markham in 2015 amid rapidly declining fan support.
The Kiltys began in 1977 as a Jr. B squad before moving up to Jr. A. The Avalanche are the former Stoney Creek Warriors who moved to Ancaster five years ago.
Wilson noted the Avalanche were playing in an arena “on the outskirts” of Hamilton and the move to Mountain Arena puts the team in a residential and commercial area with the potential for a lot of walk-in fan support.
“That was the No. 1 reason,” he said, adding he wants to ice a squad made mostly of players from the Hamilton area.
“That’s what I preach,” he said. “That’s what I believe in.”
General manager Steve Hodson, along with head coach Ken Peroff and assistant coaches Ryan Tocher and John Barrett, will be back next season alongside about six players from last season’s squad, which posted a 38-10-2 record — their most wins ever — before losing to St. Catharines in seven games in the Golden Horseshoe Conference semifinals.
Wilson said the Kiltys will play most of their home games on Monday nights and tickets will cost $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors and there will be a number of game night promotions each week.
The team’s new jerseys will be unveiled this summer, as will the Kilty’s schedule.
The Kiltys will be sharing the Hester Street rink with the Hamilton Steelhawks senior AAA hockey club.
“The Dave is a great arena in Hamilton and its history in hockey is rich — who wouldn't want to play there and call it home?” said Steelhawks owner Jason Daleo.
Daleo said his club plays its home games at the arena on Friday nights.
The Kilty B's and Hamilton Steelhawks under one roof sharing the ice time can work for both teams,” said Daleo.
He said the senior team will vacate their current coach’s offices and equipment room across the hall from the team dressing room to make way for the Kilty's new dressing room.
Daleo said the city is going to build some new offices and an equipment room for the Steelhawks.
But all of that is still in the planning stage, he said of the work.