The Southern Hockey League continues off-ice preparation for its 2008-09 campaign

The upcoming season will be the eighth year of senior A competition. What started as a five team league with the River Valley Rock, Lancaster ThunderCats, Saint John Stars, Black's Harbour Silverkings and Saint John Thomas Construction Alpines in 2001, has taken on a number of changes including expansion, new executive members and constiutional changes to keep up with the expanding rules and regulations under Hockey Canada's jurisdiction.

The league has captured back-to-back New Brunswick championships in a provincial tournament that was brought back into existence by the SHL three years ago.

The landscape for the SHL will be different when the puck drops next fall, but just how different it will be won't be known until early summer when the annual general meeting is held, teams confirm participation for next season and expansion requests are handled.

At the helm of the SHL is Fredericton's Sheldon Currie. A former major junior and professional player who excelled at the senior AAA level following his professional run, Currie is embarking on third season as president of the circuit. He has helped direct the league into the upper echelon of the province's senior A circuits. He has handled his share of criticism in a post that is a difficult position, but believes in the power of the league's constitution that is drawn up by the league's member teams. Leaning heavily on a veteran executive, the SHL offers a daily challenge during the winter months.

Currie took some time to answer a number of questions steered his way:

Q: Just how difficult is it to run a senior A hockey league where there's a lot of community passion amongst the teams?

Currie: It comes down to what you believe in. In this position, you never know what each day is going to bring. Generally the teams and those who run them are fair, but are simply seeking answers to questions or concerns. Everybody wants to win, but in the end, you can have only one team that's going to raise the trophy. At the end of the day, if we follow the constitutional guidelines and assess concerns by talking to those involved, we feel we're doing the job we were elected to do."

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Q: Is it worth the stress?

Currie: There's no way I'd ever say there isn't stress. It's not any different than a team general manager hoping for a crowd of 1000 every night. I've been fortunate to have been a player, a coach and a manager and I understand the emotion that goes with those positions. Having that experience helps. I've been on the other end of the spectrum where I was the one who was expressing concerns with a rule or a regulation. When I did that as an official of the team, I always tried to be positive. There would be stress if you made decisions you didn't think were right. If you believe in yourself and have faith in your executive, it certainly helps.

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Q: There's no ducking the fact you had troubles with the Black's Harbour Silverkings this season. Is it something you can expand on now that the season is over?

Currie: I can tell you this right off the top. Black's Harbour wants nothing more than to have a champion. They're a charter member of the SHL and have been through a lot of ups and downs as a franchise. The people who support that organization are as passionate as any in the province. No one else brings crowds on the road like they do. Having said that, there was a perceived personality conflict between myself and Black's head coach (Meryl Stewart). Mr. Stewart has one vision. That's winning. I can't argue with that. Unfortunately, some of our dealings became public and that can lead to mixed messaging. Once it's out there, the public forms its own opinion. They know I'm not one to deviate from the rules, but if you let it all become personal, you're in trouble. When you're running a league, harmony is not something you envision because of the competitive nature. The teams want to win. I want our league to win. Yes, we had our differences. I wish they could have been kept quiet, but they weren't. In the end, the league used its constitution and I'm not exaggerating when I say we lean on that book an awful lot. Without it, you'd be making up the rules as you go and that can't happen.

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Q: Where are the weak areas in the SHL?

Currie: We're in a bit of a transition phase right now. When the league first started, you had a core of recognizable players such as the Joel Cousins, George Orams, Todd Cheniers and Mike Englands of the world. Those players are getting older and perhaps retiring and there's new faces in new places. You really want your local teams to have a core of players who have come up through local minor hockey systems or high school programs, guys that live in the area. We know the draft allows players from out of town and teams have to be careful who they're selecting so the fans can become familiar with them. We need to build rivalries again. Right now we have a good, competitive brand of hockey, but outside of Black's Harbour against St. Stephen on a Friday or Saturday night, the rivalries aren't there like we'd like to have them. Part of that is location. It's difficult for fans to know who plays for Nackawic when the Hawks were a new team in the league. Grand Lake went through its troubles this year, playing in Minto, Oromocto and Doaktown. We can't have that and we know that. It's the same as Saint John. It's our biggest city. There's major junior there and that's a tough opponent, but listening to our loyal fans down there, they want a competitive team. We hope that happens because I believe it's critical.

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Q: Conversley, what are the strengths?

Currie: We like to believe we have a lot more on that side of the ledger. Fredericton has been an outstanding surprise. They've drawn very well and have only taken a couple of years to ice a strong product. St. Stephen remains strong from the top down and they're critical to our success. The league has never been better in terms of pure talent. That's not taking away anything from past years when the league first started and had great local players. Just look at the former pros, former CIS or junior players in our league. We want to have parity and we're working towards that. But we do believe we have the best league in the province.

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Q: The biggest obstacle facing the SHL this summer?

Currie: Ironing out some of the problems we're encountering with the draft. Is it time to update the system, is it time to tinker with to allow a level playing field? Changing roster regulations could be a path we follow. We're following recommendations and are getting a lot of input from outside the league. We want to continue growing and not become stagnant.

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SHL Exploring Potential Changes for 2008-09

The Southern Hockey League doesn’t have much of an off-season anymore.

Sure, the paint is dry on the Grand Lake Thrashers winning the SHL regular season title, its playoff crown and a Hockey New Brunswick flag for good measure, but there’s a lot of work to be done to shore up the program for 2008-09.

“It used to be leagues would determine a champion in March and then you wouldn’t talk about hockey until September,” said SHL president Sheldon Currie, who will return for his third year at the helm. “Now, we have to stay on top of league matters throughout the spring and summer leading into fall. Every year at the senior A level brings change, new ideas and how to improve what we believe is an outstanding league. We’re not sitting back.”

In fact, the SHL has already met with team management to explore options for next season.

For the first time in the league’s eight-year history, it has developed a working committee to explore a number of league aspects.

John Hyslop, the general manager of the St. Stephen Seahawks, will chair that committee.

“It’s not about Mr. Hyslop sitting down with some of his fellow general managers because we consider that to be a little repetitive,” said Currie. “Instead we’re going to have an interesting mix on the steering committee. We’ll have individuals from the SHL, but also bring in other hockey personalities, officials and players within the province.”

Some of the key areas under the microscope will be player safety and the present SHL constitution. Constitutional changes can only be motioned and altered at the league’s annual general meeting which will be tentatively held June 14.

“We’re going to go over a number of scenarios which also includes our draft system,” said Currie. “Written submissions will be made to the chair for the present teams. The board of directors will ideally review a final report including recommendations prior to our AGM.”

The SHL is the only league in the province to host a player draft system. Teams select in reverse order of last season’s finish unless trades have altered that sequence. The draft system was initially introduced to the league in 2000-01 to ensure all teams were on relative equal footing after stocking rosters with 12 players at large. The draft system also initially had a high-end player designation.

Meanwhile, the SHL has also received one official inquiry about potential expansion.

That will also be discussed at the AGM.

Provincial Senior "A" Hockey Results

The Grand Lake Thrashers kept their undefeated post-season record in tact this afternoon after sweeping their league championships to get here! They had a close scare in the first game against Cap Pele taking double-overtime to settle the tilt but in the rematch today for the crown they picked it up another notch and defeated them 9-5.

Kyle Werner had 2 goals and 3 assists in the game and Jeff Wilson was named the tournament MVP. The Thrashers outshot Cap Pele 68-23 for the championship win.

Grand Lake Leaders:

• Kyle Werner: 6 goals & 7 assists = 13 points
• Adam Nelson: 7 goals & 4 assists = 11 points
• Jeff Wilson: 7 goals & 3 assists = 10 points
• Luc Cormier: 1 goals & 7 assists = 8 points
• Mike Vaughan: 2nd overall with a 4.49 gaa.

Thrashers Represent SHL in Provincial Senior A Hockey Showdown

The Grand Lake Thrashers were the best team in New Brunswick Senior A hockey circles a year ago.

The Southern Hockey League Thrashers cruised to their second straight SHL crown last week, sweeping the Black's Harbour Silverkings in the best-of-seven final. In fact, Grand Lake is 8-0 in the playoffs including a four game sweep of the River Valley Rock during semifinal action.

Now, Grand Lake takes its act up the river to compete in the Hockey New Brunswick senior championship unfolding Wednesday through Sunday at the River Valley Community Centre.

The Thrashers have added high scoring forwards Adam Bradley of the Fredericton Hilltop Budlights and Adam Nelson of the St. Stephen Seahawks. Senior hockey veteran Todd Baird has been added to bolster the goaltending team of Mike Vaughan and Chris Howes.

"Our focus at this point of the year turns to supporting our League Champions at the Provincial level said SHL President Sheldon Currie. Grand Lake has group who knows what it takes to win and it is always great to know other teams within the League support the tournament by letting their player join the League Champions at the provincials."