Capitals? Are you sure that's right?
Absolutely. A new/old identity has been adopted by the Walkerton Jr. C club, which ran with the Hawks monitor for a long time after originally being known as the Capitals. The team re-adopted the name to coincide with the longstanding minor hockey program's name, which is celebrating its 50th season this year. New Team President, James Lang, says it made sense to honour the past and rebrand the team as they look for a fresh start following a 6th place finish last year. A strong foundation of players will return to the fold, alongside some highly skilled new signings that hope to begin a journey back towards divisional dominance in Walkerton.
Some notable losses include Jamie Damignani, the team's second leading scorer (18 points), who will leave a hole down the middle that will need to be filled. Connor Prins, a gritty defender who always had a big hit or block to lay down for the team, also ages out. Largely though, the team will continue a rebuild that focuses on great young talent that can hopefully help a Walkerton resurgence.
Up front, leading scorer Kyle Durrer (24 points) will come back to the Capitals, and will have a chance to continue building on an already impressive and dynamic offensive game. Durrer will be a big part of any success the team enjoys this year, as he will be a factor on both special teams units and key moments late in games. Brayden Fisher will return after a solid 17 point season, and will be trusted to deliver more offence for a team that could use some more goals. Rookie standout Elliot McCarey, who put up 16 points as a first year player, will also come back and be trusted to score some of those needed goals with a sneaky good release that resulted in 8 goals.
Adding some offensive depth will be the likes of the returning Owens, that being Troyer and Tichbourne, who will both be given ample chances to improve on joint 12 point outings. Youngster Spencer Lammie-Sutter has more upside, and will get the chance to show that and utilize his skating ability. The Capitals are also very excited about the signing of Jett Morningstar out of Jr. B Sarnia. Morningstar has excellent speed, and put up 20 points for Sarnia last year in the GOJHL, and his experience and offensive prowess will help power an offence that needs him to greater heights.
On the blue line, Walkerton will enjoy the return of a very solid, young, and mobile top 4. Keegan Fischer will anchor this group after an exciting 17 point outing from the back end. He will likely be the power play option at the point. Joining him will be Caleb Morrison, who began rounding into a solid two-way defender that could dole out big hits and excellent stick checks.
Trevor Fischer will come back and be given more responsibilities and chances to throw crushing hits, as will his potential partner in Spencer Maddock, who only got into 11 regular season games last year but showed the potential to be a great penalty killer and top 4 defender at this level.
In goal, the Capitals will benefit from having back local boy and second year junior player Kyle Rivers. Last season, as a rookie, Rivers did all he could to keep his team in games on many nights when the scores got away from them. His athletic ability and explosive post-to-post shutdowns will be needed fewer times as the team continues to improve. Rivers took the bulk of starts as a kid last season, posting a 3-8-2-1 record in 17 total appearances, with a 5.20 GAA and .889 save percentage, with a shutout to boot. He was called into action 587 times last year, averaging nearly 35 saves a night. If Walkerton can take some major strides forward in their own end this year, Rivers has shown he can carry the mail and that he always battles, and his numbers will improve as a result. Logan Bromley, who was part of the Wingham organization, will back up Rivers.
The Capitals are certainly still in a rebuild, but benefit from having an excellent coaching staff and front office. Longtime GM Steve Barrett, who steered the Hawks franchise to a lot of success, continues to pull the roster strings, and the bench is run by former pro player and NHLer, Brad Tiley. Tiley immediately commands respect from his players not just because of his own successes as a player, but because he has a calm demeanour and is willing to teach and respect his young guys and encourage them to not be afraid to make mistakes. He welcomes back assistants in Rory Chapelle and Brad Tichbourne, as well as longtime Walkerton Hawk Jordan Turcotte, who knows all about winning in a Walkerton Jersey, regardless of it saying Hawks or Capitals. He will surely have a huge impact on the D core and penalty kill, something he was a master at in his Jr. C days.
For more on the upcoming Walkerton Capitals season, listen here to new Team President, James Lang:
[audio mp3="https://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/LANG-WALKERTON.mp3"][/audio]
