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Vol. 5
No. 9
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER - LANARK, NORTH LEEDS & GRENVILLE
SEPTEMBER 2018
Hard-work kind of guy takes over as head coach and GM of Smiths Falls Bears
Alex Armstrong sits in the top row at the Smiths Falls arena contemplating his job of re-building the Bears this year. Photo credit: Sally Smith.
Smiths Falls - Sally Smith editorial@pd gmedia.ca New head coach and general manager of the Smiths Falls Bears says he remembers the irrepressible noise in the arena when he came as a player to play against the Bears. Alex Armstrong says it was a rowdy crowd — for all the right reasons. “They were behind their team. It was a fun place to play if you were the home team — but if a visiting team…it was a tough barn to play in.” He says it was so loud behind the bench “you couldn’t talk on a time out.” Today he’s here as the guy who’s going to help generate that noise. He’s only been in the building since August 10 so there’s a lot of work to do between now and the first exhibition game September 1 at the Bells Sensplex in Kanata. “We’re under the gun to get the ball rolling, get the community back involved with the hockey team,”Armstrong admits, showing his long hours on the day of the interview, dark circles under his eyes, a slouch in his shoulders. “We’ll go at it day by day.” Nick and Josh Filoso are the new owners, both in their early 20s, and the youngest owners in
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the CCHL and CCHL2 league; they’ve taken over the Smiths Falls Bears Jr. A team along with its Westport Rideaus Tier II junior team. Chris Cassell owned the franchise for 12 years previously. “It’s a process,” Armstrong says of his work in the next month. “We just took it over, it’s a rebuild year, we want to get the community involved. We
have lots to do both on and off the ice, and we’ll hopefully field a competitive team. “Our goal this year is to try and make the play-offs and build on it from there. Everyone’s still on a try-out basis, we have an exhibition game coming up. Slowly but surely we’ll get down to the team as we start next week in the showcase at the Sensplex.” Armstrong says they’ll carry 23 or 24 to start “and as the year goes on we’ll cut down in numbers. At the end of the year we can only carry 23 players.” The 16 to 20-year-olds come from all over North America; last year the team included players from as far away as Texas, New Jersey and New York and from as close as right here at home in Smiths Falls and Perth. Armstrong says there are presently no 16-year-olds on the team who live away from home; the U18 team is where most of the “young kids from the area are and they get to live with their family while they play hockey here.” He adds that for kids living away from home “the billeting situation is fantastic. People are willing to open their doors…” Those still at school go to
school here, Armstrong says. “Some are done, some do online courses, most kids are still trying to finish or upgrade.” Whatever the situation, expect to see players out in the community, getting involved with events, charities, or just having fun. “We want the community back and involved.” The Bears depend on community support which helps make it the team it is. “It’s an historical franchise. In our eyes it’s the jewel of the league. It’s been around a long time, and the fans are passionate about their team,” Armstrong says. Add that to the new owners’ “love for amateur sport,” Armstrong’s keep-yourhead-down and work hard approach, and it’s an easy hat-trick win. The process of hiring scouts is ongoing. “It’s been a real whirlwind in the last two weeks so that’s been on the back burner but as we move forward we’ll bring some guys on.” What do they look for? “If they can’t skate, they can’t play. We look for hockey IQ — intelligence; the compete level; and character. If they have the whole package we’ll probably never see the kid,” Armstrong says, with
a bit of a smile, acknowledging this is a building team and it’s his job to instill “the package.” That’s what he intends to do even though he calls himself “a quiet, stick-to-myself kind of guy.” He’s coached and played for 21 years and now it’s his turn to put all his learning into action with the Bears He knows, though, having experienced the disappointment of losing and the exhilaration of winning, that “at the end of the day” (one of his favourite expressions), after the scouts have done their work and all the decisions have been made, it’s really “up to the 20 guys on ice to win or lose the game. The coaching staff puts a plan in place and tries to get the right players for the right situation, but at the end of the day, it’s up to them to win.” Catch the Bears in action at these coming games: Sept 7 home Pembroke 7:30pm Sept 14 home Kanata 7:30pm Sept 16 away Navan 3:00pm Sept 21 home CP 7:30pm Sept 28 home Cornwall 7:30pm For a full schedule visit smithsfa llsbearshockey.com . For home game coverage visit hometownnews.ca
Flash flood underscores the need for further downtown stormwater system improvements Smiths Falls - Stacey Roy editorial@pd gmedia.ca Shop owners along Chamber Street are eager to see more stormwater improvements take place in the downtown core following a Sept. 2 flash flood that threatened their businesses, while town staff confirm they are reviewing the situation and working towards the upgrades shop owners are seeking. Amanda McNeil, manager at Sweet Scoops received a frantic call from her staff Sunday, Sept. 2 alerting her to flooding in the store. Even still, the situation she discovered at the corner of Beckwith and Chamber Streets shocked her. “When I got to the intersection
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here it looked like rapids coming over by BMO,” McNeil added. “I had flip flops on and the rain was taking my shoes”. The newly opened business feels lucky that their floors can be salvaged despite an inch of water that ran across them that Sunday afternoon. However, a large ice cream freezer and the bottom of their cashier’s counter took the brunt of the damage when the water began pouring in from under the door way. Long term store owners in the heritage building like Greg Earl of Sport X and Debbie Lamping of Echo Tours and Travel said this isn’t the first time fall rains have resulted
Photo Credit: David Pringle
in flooding. About six years ago a much worse flood took place causing incredible damage. Earl noted the sloped downtown that makes Smiths Falls so picturesque is also dangerous for their building as it funnels all the water and garbage
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down toward Chamber Street. This time, Earl feels it was the build up of garbage that could still be seen in the drainage system days after the flood that turned a 15-minute down pour into a flash flood. continues on page 5
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