Thunder Bay is getting a second Superior International Junior Hockey League team.
The Kam River Fighting Walleye will play their 2020-2021 season out of the Tournament Centre.
SIJHL Commissioner Bryan Graham feels Thunder Bay has enough fan capacity to host two junior hockey teams.
“The Fighting Walleye have established a very good fan base in the Junior ‘B’ level and I think that’s going to carry over nicely to fill the seats at the Tournament Centre. Absolutely we feel we can continue to grow junior hockey and put butts in the seats”.
The SIJHL’s board of governors unanimously accepted the expansion application bid submitted by the Dorsal Fin Entertainment Group that will see their team, the Kam River Fighting Walleye, officially become the league’s seventh franchise, pending final approval from Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
The team’s local ownership group consists of partners Derek Geddes, Kevin McCallum, Brad Collins and Colin Campbell.
McCallum will serve as the teams General Manager.
He was one of the original owners of the Thief River Falls Norskies and prior to that was with the Dryden Ice Dogs in the early days of the league as an equipment manager and athletic trainer.
McCallum is now working on securing the Fighting Walleye’s first head coach as well as launch an aggressive player recruitment drive.
Bryan Graham notes they are still in talks with Kenora to expand the SIJHL further west but adds limited ice time continues to be a stumbling block in negotiations.
