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Local Junior A hockey team feeling at home in their first season

The Haliburton Huskies are in their inaugural season in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, but the former Whitby franchise has captured the attention of area hockey fans.

Head coach and General Manager Ryan Ramsay says things are going well, and the support from the county has been tremendous.

“We have sold a lot of season tickets, getting over 300 fans a game, and selling lots of merchandise,” he says. “It’s great to go around town and see everybody in their Huskies gear.”

The Huskies currently sit in second place in the East Division.

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“In my opinion, we play in the hardest division in the league with Wellington, Trenton and Cobourg always having good teams,” says Ramsay. “It’s one of those years where we are going to learn as an organization.”

Ramsay adds the players love playing in Minden, and in such a tight-knit community and despite the population of around 18 thousand, the stands are almost full.

Ramsay was a first-round pick in the Ontario Hockey League draft by the Peterborough Petes and played five seasons in the league. He would then sign a contract with the St. Louis Blues and went on to play four seasons in the American Hockey League and nine years in the German Elite League. To him, coaching just made sense.

“I have always liked the coaching part of the game, so I decided to start a hockey school in Durham Region and my heart was in hockey, so coaching was the next step. If you’re not playing, then you’re coaching,” he says.

Ramsay says there are six current NHL coaches who coached him in Junior and in Europe, so he took a little bit of what he learned from each of them, and he is now passing that knowledge to the kids in the Haliburton program.

On a personal level, Ramsay says he loves the organization and the hard work the entire management team is putting in.

“Owner Paul Wilson and I work hand in hand every day behind the scenes. Even before the first puck dropped in Minden, we were eight to nine months deep in this,” says Ramsay. “There was a lot of work the entire team had to do before the season started. We had to get sponsors, the arena had a huge renovation, but we pulled together, and everyone had their heart into the team and that’s why we are thriving.”

As for Ramsay’s future, it would take a lot for him to uproot his family.

“I have been offered a couple of assistant coaching jobs in the OHL. I have two small children, my wife is from here, and we are building a house. I am content and happy with what we are doing here. If a head coaching job ever came about I would have to sit down with my family and make the decision that was best for us,” he says.

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