Stouffville hosts the Markham Royals in Thursday’s season opener
TJ Hill loves Jr. A hockey.
A three-year player at this level, the puck will drop on his 11th season as a coach in the Ontario Junior Hockey League when his Stouffville Spirit hosts the Markham Royals Thursday (Sept. 10) night.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at the Stouffville Arena.
It’s a youthful team Spirit fans will see this season.
Only four players are back from last year’s squad that set a franchise record for wins, was consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally and went two rounds deep in the playoffs.
GM Kenny Burrows, Assistant GM Greg Buchanan and the rest of the hockey staff have restocked the shelves with a talented class of recruits.
Evidence? Twenty members of this year’s team were invited to Ontario Hockey League or Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League camps – one level up from the OJHL – this summer.
“We’re really excited, as we are at the beginning of every season,” Hill, the 2025 Coach of the Year in the OJHL, said this week. “Just from a coach’s perspective, it’s the beginning of the development process with a lot of new faces. There’s lots to teach and lots to learn.
“That’s one of the most exciting things about coaching for me, helping kids understand the game, learn and grow and get better. So, we’ve got a really great group in the sense. They’re very hard-working. Very competitive with a strong willingness to want to learn and improve and that’s really all you could ask for as a coach.
“It’s going to be an exciting year. We’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot of teaching to do. But that’s the fun part. So, we’re excited about that. I think this group has a lot of upside and a lot of potential and I’m excited to see that come to fruition.”
Three graduates (Zack Corte, Hayden Sabourin and Nate Windle) off last year’s team are playing at Canadian universities and another three (Evan Breckles, Jacob Martineau and Kyle Baston) are at NCAA Division 3 schools in the U.S. Tayjon Street turned pro at Danbury, Connecticut of the Federal League.
“…the other aspect here is developing players and giving them opportunities to grow and hone their skills and develop their games so they can move on to the next level.”
Another four players off last year’s roster are expected to start this season on OJHL or QMJHL teams. Three others moved to Jr. B or C squads.
Hill graduated from Spirit assistant to head coach midway through the 2022–23 season.
“You want to win and everybody’s doing their best to try to win as a team,” he said. “But, the other aspect here is developing players and giving them opportunities to grow and hone their skills and develop their games so they can move out of the next level. Watching players achieve those goals and go on to successful careers outside of Stouffville and Jr. A is definitely something that is really exciting for us to watch.
“It is one of our main priorities here in Stouffville. So to see that the success of the individual players and them moving on is definitely right up there with my fondest memories since coming here.”
“It’s moving kids on to the next level,” Burrows told the Stouffville Review in an interview. “I’m pretty sure that’s why most of the kids sign here, so they can move on like Armstrong.”
‘Armstrong’ is Hudson Armstrong, the Spirit’s leading scorer (39 goals/39 assists) last season who signed with Charlottetown of the QMJHL last month.
Click on the link to read the story in the Review:
All Spirit games this season will again be broadcast on 102.9 WhiStle FM (free). Listen live at https://whistlefm.ca for the full audio interview with TJ Hill between periods of Thursday’s game.
All games will also be broadcast on https://www.flohockey.tv/ (subscription required).
HOME, SWEET HOME
Thursday’s game is the first of four in the second annual Markham Stouffville Cup Series being played between the Spirit and Royals in support of Markham Stouffville Hospital. The Spirit won the inaugural cup, winning three of four games played last season.
Matteo Paolucci, the Coordinator the Community Relations & Events at the hospital foundation, will take part in the pregame ceremonial faceoff.
He’ll be joined by cancer survivor Ryan Cairney, the ambassador of this year’s Terry Fox Run in Stouffville run, run chair Adele Palmer, Stouffville Mayor Ian Lovatt and Spirit governor and general manager Kenny Burrows.
Popular Stouffville duo Ruby Tuesday will perform, beginning at 7 p.m, before Thursday’s game. Sarah Ranson of Ruby Tuesday will sing the national anthem.
NOTES: Spirit players will volunteer again at the Terry Fox Run on Sept 20 In Memorial Park. The hockey team is donating all proceeds from its 50/50 draws during September to the run. Terry Fox volunteers will be at the Spirit’s Community Table in the arena lobby at games Sept. 10 and 17. Fans can purchase Terry Fox T-shirts and learn more about the run.
