Plenty of changes to junior hockey this year

If there's a buzz word for the new OHA Ontario Provincial Junior 'A' Hockey League season, it's 'new'.

The Pickering Panthers and the Ajax Attack are back on the ice, but it's certainly not the same junior hockey landscape they left when both meekly faded to black last February following lacklustre seasons.

Both are in a new division, the Ruddock Division, named after a former league volunteer, and they're part of a group of only three teams that competed in the old South Conference a year ago. The Panthers, Attack and Whitby Fury (in a new location, after leaving Oshawa behind) will join forces with newcomers Bowmanville Eagles, Port Hope Predators, Peterborough Stars, Lindsay Muskies, Kingston Voyageurs, and the Trenton Hercs to form the new division for the 2008-09 season.

Moreover, Tier 2 junior hockey fans will also see more and varied teams this year, as the OPJHL has abandoned inter-divisional play for inter-league competition. The Panthers play out-of-division games against Buffalo, Oakville and Mississauga this season. Meanwhile, the Attack will do battle with Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga and Villanova.

The Attack has a new/old coach in Carey Durant, who rejoined the club this season after previously coaching the team three years ago in 2005.

The Panthers, as well, also have a new man on the bench in Bill Brady, who was a former assistant coach in Pickering under previous coach John Winder. He comes to Pickering after helming the Cobourg Cougars last year.

Despite the changes, which seek to make the league more relevant to fans, the real question is: Are the two local teams ready to commit to a 'new' winning strategy after coming off less-than stellar seasons.

The Panthers fell the hardest last season after advancing all the way to the playoff semifinals during the 2006-07 season. Last year, the team was dead last in the conference with a scant 10 wins to their credit.

The Attack were only nominally better, finishing with 12 wins under their belt during the 2007-08 campaign.

While Brady isn't making any bold predictions, he's confident his club will reach a higher plateau than last year's bottom-feeding club.

"I definitely hope so," said Brady in a recent interview. "We've got a good foundation, a starting point. We'll have some growing pains, but once we get going, we'll be OK."

Attack general manager John Tugnutt goes a country-mile farther than Brady in his prediction for his club, saying nothing less than being in the upper tier of the standings will be acceptable to the oft-struggling Attack this season.

"We need to be competitive. Ajax has been at the bottom, but our mandate now is to win and we will. We will buy players or trade for them. We will get them however we can. We will be competitive, in the top half of the standings in our division."

Idle chatter or prescient commentary? It remains to be seen if one or both local junior clubs will be markedly better this season.

There's plenty of newness surrounding the Attack and Panthers, but will they be improved? Stay tuned.

The Panthers get it going tonight (Friday) in Port Hope against the Predators. The Attack starts anew in Peterborough against the Stars on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Al Rivett's column appears every month. E-mail arivett@durhamregion.com.