New era begins for Lumberjacks
South Shore ices ‘a strong team’ as junior B franchise settles in Bridgewater
Everything old is new again at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre. The South Shore Lumberjacks are back, albeit as a junior B team. The Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League franchise moved to Bridgewater from Liverpool this summer after the junior A Lumberjacks left the LCLC and relocated to Grandbouctouche, N.B., and became the West Kent Steamers.
South Shore’s home-opener is this Saturday, Sept. 23, with a 7 p.m. game against the Membertou Junior Miners.
The Lumberjacks have immersed themselves in their new environment, playing a
pre-season game at the LCLC and participating in the South Shore Exhibition parade.
“We had a good turnout for an exhibition game, the first one of the year,” said coach Ryan Falkenham. “Just hearing some buzz and hearing some feedback, it sounds like people are excited to have a team (in Bridgewater) still. Junior B is exciting hockey.
“The calibre of play in the junior B league is getting better and better. As an option where it’s easier to work and go to school and still play and be a part of a competitive league. Hopefully, the product is good this year, and I think it will be.”
The Lumberjacks were scheduled to begin their regular season on the road last weekend with three games in Cape Breton, though that was dependent on the severity of Hurricane Lee.
DEPTH RETURNS
Including coach Falkenham, the new-look Lumberjacks retain many of the key pieces from the Liverpool Privateers team that hosted the Atlantic Canadian junior B championship last April. Those returnees include captain Daniel Kline and top scorer Alec Howie.
“There’s a few other guys up front, Joe Osborne and Dan Leblanc, they’re also back,” said Falkenham, who became coach partway through last season.
“We have four returning defencemen, which is nice. I feel strongly that our D corps is very solid this year.”
The returning D-men that Falkenham mentioned are Nolan Greenlaw, Owen Osbourne, John Shubaly and hometown kid Aaron Lane.
After playing with the junior A Lumberjacks in the Maritime Hockey League three seasons ago, Lane took more than a year off hockey before returning last November to skate with the Privateers for the rest of the 2022-23 season. He became an integral part of their defence, while also studying engineering at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
“I think he’ll be one of the top offensive defencemen in the league,” Falkenham said of Lane, 20. “He’s a Bridgewater guy, so it’s nice to have those connections on the roster. There’s a few local guys, which is exciting.”
The latest wave of South Shore talent includes four recent graduates of the Park View Panthers, one of the top Division 1 high school programs in the province. With their territorial picks, the Lumberjacks chose Park View linemates Brennan Coleman and Cohen Westlake. They were the top two scorers in the Valley High School Hockey League last season and played the previous two years with the U18 major South Shore Mustangs.
“There’s some younger guys that came in … that we’re really excited about,” Falkenham said about Coleman and Westlake.
The coach also had high praise for a couple of other Park View products who were still in camp last week — forward Mitchell Macintosh and defenceman Liam Sylvester, formerly
the Panthers’ captain.
“We haven’t finalized things yet, but they’re both good players, too,” Falkenham said. “I was very impressed with Sylvester in the exhibition game. He’s a man-child. He’s a big, strong kid and he moves pretty well. Macintosh is a fun player to watch. He has a lot of skill. In practice, you’ll see him throw a backhand saucer (pass). You don’t see that too often in our league.”
PRACTISE IN CITY
Almost 40 players participated in South Shore’s training camp and pre-season. While the roster is now down to manageable numbers for the opening of the regular season, more changes are not only possible but expected. It’s practically a way of life in the junior B league, especially as newcomers settle in Nova Scotia to begin their university studies. The Lumberjacks practise in Halifax, where most of their players work or attend school.
“I think we’re going to have a strong team this year,” Falkenham said. “We’ve got some key guys back and we’re pretty happy with some of the younger guys. But that is the other thing about this league, you never know what’s going to happen until teams are settled and picked.”
When the university football season ends, St. Francis Xavier X-men star running back Malcolm Bussey plans to jump back on the ice and resume a leading role with South Shore’s junior B team, his hockey coach said.
When he was hired last season, Falkenham became a head coach for the first time. But the former Halifax Mooseheads captain has had stints as an assistant coach with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL and the Dalhousie Tigers of the AUS conference. He also worked with the Citadel high school team in his native Halifax.
Junior hockey legend Jim Bottomley recruited the 27-year-old Falkenham to coach the Privateers, now the Lumberjacks.
“It’s worked out really well,” he said. “I’m definitely learning lots as the head coach, on how to make different kinds of decisions and being in a different role (than as an assistant).”
Falkenham has soaked up lessons from a variety of prominent coaches.
“Yeah, even just the coaching I had growing up. Especially in junior, with Dom Ducharme and Steve Hartley and Jon Greenwood and Jim Midgley, those are all guys that know the game well. I’ve taken a lot from them, for sure.”
Falkenham’s coaching staff with South Shore includes Brett Fletcher, defence coach Josh Nicholson, goalie coach Keaghan Larade and newest addition Aidan Durnford. Three of those four assistants are former Privateers.
“It’s nice to see the guys that played for the team still want to be involved,” Falkenham said. “I think it says a lot about the organization and who’s running it and how we run things as a team.”