With an abrupt end of the season, the Fort Erie Falcons
found themselves in a suddenly unusual position of packing up their dressing
room stalls much earlier than normal.
“It absolutely sucks” quipped Patrick Kane on cleanout
day. “I came here because I wanted to
win a championship and we fell short. The
good news is I know with this organization, we’ll be back ready to go next
year.”
That’s the one thing about the Falcons, they never really
seem to take a year off to rebuild whatsoever.
There is a strong pipeline of upcoming stars such as Jamie Drysdale,
Phil Tomasino and Quinton Byfield.
There are others coming as well, and we have not even begun
to mention the young players on the roster that have yet to find a permanent
home in the lineup.
How will Dylan Strome, Nic Hague, and Alex DeBrincat all fit
in here next year? Will Vince Dunn make
the leap into full-time status in the CCHL in Fort Erie after being re-acquired?
Blake Wheeler can definitely see the writing on the wall in Fort Erie.
"I expect to move on. There is so much young talent coming in and my agent says there will likely be a big market for my game, so it's impossible to see myself back in this uniform next year. I'd like to be as I think we have unfinished business, but the reality is that I don't see the minutes here with Mitch and Kaner ahead of me on the right side."
One thing has to be certain and that’s that GM Matt Young
will be looking for some goaltending help with Braden Holtby becoming a free agent
this off-season. Young has said
Blackwood and Nedeljkovic will be the goaltenders next year, but it’s hard to
believe the veteran General Manager would be comfortable going with such an
inexperienced tandem. The word around
the league is that the team would like to bring in a veteran goaltender to
step-in should the young goalies hit a speed bump in the ultra-competitive CCHL.
One thing is certain, the Falcons will be competitive again
in 2021-22.
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