The pursuit of a league championship this year will be especially sweet, said Tony Visca, head coach of the Don Mills Flyers Midget Major AAA team.
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the club, said Visca, who has coached the team for the last three years.
``It (Don Mills Flyers) was one of the original founding AAA organizations in Ontario,'' he said. ``The Midget Don Teams were historically strong. A lot of players got drafted into pro hockey,out of Midget hockey here.''
Founded in 1960, the Don Mills Hockey Association, the original club wore white, blue and gold and was affiliated with the Don Mills Civitan house league and played out of Don Mills Arena. In1968, the Rep "AAA" Clubs, as they are now known, struck an agreement with the Philadelphia Flyers allowing the association to wear the Flyer emblem and use the orange, black and white and the Don Mills Flyers were born.
Former Flyers players that have entered the NHL draft include, Rob Cimetta, selected in the first round of the 1988 draft by the Boston Bruins, Shawn Antoski,selected in the first round of the 1990 draft by the Vancouver Canucks and four-time Stanley Cup winner Kris Draper, who was selected in the third round of the 1989draft by the Winnipeg Jets.
``We're doing a commemorative tournament in September (17-19),'' Visca said. ``The Philadelphia Flyers actually sponsor us.They're getting involved in some of the commemorative stuff. There's a lot of historical stuff being made up for the kids. It's really quite a special thing here.We're having special uniforms made up for commemorative season.''
So when the Flyers hit the ice in their new sweaters this season, Visca said he expects centers Flav Fiorruci and Kevin McGarragle, as well as goalies Evan Carlisle and Connor Visca to lead the way.
``We were a very young team last year. We started getting strong towards the end (of the season),'' he said. ``We won two tournaments towards the end of the year and we're one of the favorites this year in the GTHL, because we're an older team this year."
And when he's not coaching on the ice,Visca is tackling what he believes is major off the ice.
``Now this is one major problem -- and I'm on the Hockey Canada Summit. The biggest issue we have is to get the draft backup to 18,'' said Visca, who has been in the coaching ranks for 26 years. ``If we can get the draft age back up to 18(it's now 16), then the kids can stay with that extra two years of development.We're not sure when the (drafting) age was 16 in the first place''
Visca said he was also in support of Hockey Canada's new emphasis on keeping players in Midget Major as opposed to getting drafted too early and sitting on junior benches.
His coaching stints have including being a guest coach at prospect camps on various Tier 2 Junior A clubs, head coach of the Don Mills Flyers Minor Midget AAA team and an on and off-ice course conductor, as well as coordinator for Elite Hockey Consultants, a grass roots organization that for the past 12 years has tried to make a difference in the quality of development in the hockey community with training techniques and philosophies for all ages and levels.
