The Windsor Jr. Spitfires and Sun County Panthers AAA hockey organizations are trying to amalgamate in time for the 2025-2026 season.
Both associations will meet with their respective membership groups, starting next week — with votes happening in mid-to-late November.
If passed, the association would use the Windsor Jr. Spitfires name because of its affiliation with the Ontario Hockey League team. Sun County Panthers crests would be on the jerseys in the form of shoulder patches, according to officials.
AAA is the highest level of youth travel hockey.
Windsor has approximately 140 players registered, and Sun County has around 170.
Minor hockey level support
The two play under the Alliance Hockey umbrella — a minor hockey level organization in southern Ontario.
Jennifer MacDonald is the Alliance’s vice-president for the region, and says similar mergers have happened recently at the AAA level in Hamilton and Oshawa.
MacDonald hopes families will keep an open mind during the process.
“Yes, there are going to be kids that aren’t playing AAA hockey anymore. You’re getting rid of 17 [players] and you’re getting rid of a whole team [at each age level].”
The Windsor Jr. Spitfires AAA brand is affiliated with the OHL team. (Windsor Jr. Spitfires)
Sun County Panthers president Shannah Dalpe says aside from a rise in things such as gas, hotel and food prices, the sport is inherently expensive and is a major time commitment for families.
She says it’s led to dwindling registration.
“The travelling has gotten … a lot broader in the last little bit, with teams going to tournaments that are not just in the Toronto, Detroit areas. They’re going to Pittsburgh, Boston — they’re travelling quite far,” said Dalpe.
“And that all contributes to the price of hockey when you’re a family that’s on the road eight months of the year.”
The Sun County Panthers name will be no more if a merger between the hockey association and Windsor Jr. Spitfires is approved. (Sun County Panthers)
According to Dalpe, population-wise, it’s difficult for Windsor-Essex to feed two AAA hockey centres, two prep hockey academies [BioSteel and Académie Ste-Cécile] and nearby Chatham’s AAA program — and then expect them to be consistently competitive.
“You got 34 kids at a birth year playing AAA hockey, and now you’re going to have 17. That’s a lot of kids to disperse throughout the area.”
Dalpe, who’s been on the Sun County board for 13 years, says this decision to try and align the two centres didn’t just happen overnight.
This has been a discussion for a very, very long time. We just finally felt like the time was now. – Shannah Dalpe, president, Sun County Panthers
“This has been a discussion for a very, very long time. We just finally felt like the time was now.”
Dalpe says, if approved, the first year might be especially hard on some families who’ve been used to their child playing at the highest level possible in the past.
“As a parent, I feel for them, because it’s such an uneasy feeling when you don’t know what’s going to happen and you have to make those decisions. This a big change.”
Established U18 partnership
The two centres already have an existing relationship when it comes to an amalgamated team.
For several years, Windsor, Sun County and Chatham have opened the boundaries to field a unified U18 squad.
Randy Levac, president of Windsor AAA, says it’s worked well at that age level.
“Every year, that team hasn’t had a losing season,” he said. “They compete every year. It’s nice when we’re able to pick from those numbers.”
Randy Levac is the president of Windsor AAA. (CBC)
Levac believes a merger could lead to a better quality of coaching and players — with more to choose from.
He says it also gives teams more flexibility when it comes to ice time, as there will be more pads at their disposal.
As for the time frame in which they’re trying to push this through, Levac calls it “really aggressive.”
“It’s a big thing. If we can pull this off, I’ll be really happy, and I think you’ll see a lot of kids in the program. Especially the top-end kids will appreciate having the opportunity to have other players come and play with them to build a stronger team.”