AMHA holds final year-end banquet for travel players
- Ron Giofu
- 8 hours ago
- 7 min read
An era ended last week but before a new one could begin, key members of the past were recognized.
The Amherstburg Minor Hockey Association (AMHA) held its travel banquet last Thursday night at the Libro Centre, the last one under the AMHA banner. When minor hockey returns in the fall, Amherstburg will be under the umbrella of Lake Erie Minor Hockey Association (LEMHA) after the amalgamation of AMHA and the Erie North Shore Minor Hockey Association (ENSMHA). ENSMHA included Harrow and Kingsville.
The new team nickname will be North Stars.
AMHA president Wes Ewer thanked the executive board for their efforts as well as the over 400 players and their families. He also thanked Gary and Deb Toupin, the president and registrar of ENSMHA. Both Ewer and Gary Toupin will be co-presidents of the first LEMHA board.
Ewer said he contacted long-time arena employee Jeff Long about the history of minor hockey in Amherstburg, dating back to when the former AMA Arena opened in Dec. 1970. After starting that season in places like Leamington and Tilbury, they moved to the new arena that opened with plywood instead of plexiglass because the latter hadn’t arrived yet.
There was no club nickname at that time so the travel teams were sponsored individually and had different colours. The original North Star team was the 1971-72 juvenile team and had white uniforms with matching pants and helmets.
“In the early years, the TCMHA (Tri-Community Minor Hockey Association) had some great people involved like Reg Spencer, who was an executive member and coach and was so very involved in minor sports over the years,” Ewer said.
Ewer’s consultation with Long also pointed out others who were very involved in the early years such as George Doherty, Joe Laframboise, Tom Kilgallin, Ed McCaffrey, Brud Carmichael, Steve and Charlene Walach, Bob Bertrand, Gerry McDonough, Gerry Bezaire, Rosemary and Bob Fryer, Roy Pittman, and Mike and Cheryl Hallock.
“A lot has happened since then. We shifted to Colorado colours and became the Amherstburg Stars,” said Ewer. “We got our hallway painted along with the Admirals to bring some more spirit to our dressing room area. We moved to the Libro Centre. We moved to the Bluewater League. We put some banners up in the rafters.”
There were seven Lifetime Achievement Awards presented, the first of which was to past president Marc Renaud. Renaud has spent over 20 years in a volunteer capacity with AMHA and is still with the board. The retired Unifor representative was described by Ewer as someone who “dedicated his life to service for others.”
Renaud served as the equipment manager and would eventually become a coach with the organization. He first served as AMHA president in 2007 and then again from 2009-23.
“Offering advice and mentorship to all on the board, especially to me, this person was also named a lifetime board member for AMHA and now the new LEMHA, the first and only honour AMHA has bestowed on anyone,” said Ewer. “The former town councillor has since retired from work and public service, but he can’t retire from us.”
Joe Laframboise was another award recipient with his journey with AMHA starting in 1970.
“He had a key role in fundraising for Amherstburg’s very first arena, a place many of us spent countless hours as kids, laying the foundation for us to be where we are today,” said Ewer.
Laframboise coached countless AMHA teams from house league to travel from the 1970s to the 2000s. He coached Amherstburg’s first OMHA championship team in 1977 – the Juvenile BB team and Ewer said he made his mark off the ice through his sporting goods store J and R Sports “where he made sure all kids could afford to play this great game that he and we all love so much.”
Noting that Laframboise coached his children and grandchildren, Ewer said Laframboise instilled his passion for the game in all of his players.
“His approach to coaching was rooted in his own experience as a player, having spent time with the legendary Toronto Marlies,” said Ewer. “He took what he learned from the game and poured it back into the community he loved. He never stopped giving.”
Rosemary Fryer received a Lifetime Achievement Award with her journey also starting in the 1970s. Ewer described her as a key figure in the early years of TCMHA and AMHA all the way until moving to the Libro Centre
“She and her husband spent 43 years shaping the association through a variety of roles,” said Ewer.
Fryer spent time as the fundraising co-ordinator, travel convenor and referee-in-chief before becoming AMHA president. Ewer said the role most will remember her for was being the “gatekeeper” at the old arna, collecting fees to watch the travel games and offering a welcoming smile to all who attended.
The fourth Lifetime Achievement Award went to Leonard Mailloux, who started with AMHA in the 1990s when coaching is son.
“In his mind, if he had to get up to go to a 6 a.m. practice and freeze his butt off in the stands, he might as well help out and get on the ice,” said Ewer. “The rest is history.”
Mailloux coached at a variety of levels and age divisions, encouraging his players to connect with the game by watching Hockey Night in Canada. He devoted 29 years to AMHA while only coaching his sons for eight of those years, said Ewer.
“Outside of AMHA, he helped Dan Pettypiece with the AMA hockey schools for about eight years, he helped coach the General Amherst girls hockey team for three seasons and also helped with the South Windsor Skating Club for 18 years.
“Now retired, he gets to enjoy watching his grandsons play the game he loves and has given so much to,” said Ewer.
Pettypiece was another honouree, with Ewer crediting him with directly impacting a lot of skating techniques over the past 50 years. Pettypiece started as a non-parent volunteer in 1976 and coached multiple levels in house league and travel. He also served three years as AMHA equipment manager.
In addition to coaching and mentoring his daughter and son, he worked as part of the AMHA discipline committee from 2006 to the present.
Pettypiece has also been involved with the South Windsor Skating Club, the Sun Parlour Female Hockey Association, leading local hockey schools, the South County Predators Girls Hockey Association and girls hockey teams at General Amherst High School and North Star High School.
“His resume of volunteerism dwarfs just about everyone out there, giving 50 years of his life to this great game,” said Ewer.
Ewer credited Paul Tonietto with providing calm, direct feedback to anyone needing support, adding that Tonietto has a demeanor that makes bad news seem not so bad.
“While he was a calming influence in the board meetings and as a person, he was fiercely competitive and always pushing to make AMHA one of the best centres around,” said Ewer.
Like most, Tonietto got involved when he his children started playing and would join the board as tyke convenor. He would become fundraising director and helped expand fundraising options for travel teams “to help lessen the financial burden on the families.” He also became vice president of travel.
“During his time at the helm of the AMHA program, we saw countless team wins of Bluewater titles and tournament wins,” said Ewer. “Even more impressively, during his time, AMHA saw seven OMHA championship banners hoisted into the rafters. Also during this time, AMHA saw three OHF provincial championship banners head up to the ceiling with win from the midget major team twice and bantam major once. While he may not have been on the bench for these victories, they are a direct result of his passion for winning and empowering the coaches and players to be successful and produce winning campaigns.”
Ewer said Tonietto was instrumental for changing policies to get kids more playing time.
Dennis Emerson was described as being the “epitome of volunteerism” and has been a non-parent coach for most of his coaching career and a member of the AMHA board. He has been involved with AMHA in a number of roles for 23 years, said Ewer, coaching at all levels of house league and travel, sometimes coaching two or more teams at once to help the players and the organization.
“He has won tournaments, Bluewater championships, two red hats (OMHA championships) and everything in between,” said Ewer, “but what he always did was put the kids first and make himself available to offer the knowledge he had while always being positive and ensuring his players had a lot of fun playing for him.”
Emerson also aided in player development as well as coach development, from managing learning to skate programs to checking clinics and more. Ewer said he wanted to ensure younger coaches were developed and now coaches with his son in AMHA. Emerson also was key in bringing a juvenile team back to Amherstburg and won an OMHA championship with them. Emerson “represents all that is good about volunteering and you will very often see him with a big smile on his face because he constantly exudes positivity and that rubs off on his players,” said Ewer.
Memorial Awards went to players in all divisions including:
U9 Novice Major – Bruno Casanova Award (Outstanding Effort throughout the Season) – Landon Hotts
U10 Atom Minor – Kevin McDonough Award (Outstanding Effort throughout the Season) – A.J. Esipu
U11 Atom Major – Kevin McDonough Award (Outstanding Effort throughout the Season) – Luka Premrl & Connor Buchanan
U12 Pee Wee Minor – Mark Whitehead Award (Outstanding Effort throughout the Season) – Keaven Campbell
U13 Pee Wee Major – Mark Whitehead Award (Outstanding Effort throughout the Season) – Brock Racette
U14 Bantam Minor – Dannie Pietrangelo Award (Outstanding Effort throughout the Season) – Bradden Armaly
U15 Bantam Major – Bill Jones Award (Positive Attitude and Giving 100% in Practices and Games) – Porter Triolet
U16 Midget Minor – Michael Bastien Award (Outstanding Dedication throughout the Season) – Nick Gray
U16 Midget Minor – Jimmy Brooks Award (Outstanding Defensive Play throughout the Season) – Cody Lavigne.
U21 Juvenile – Outstanding Dedication to Hockey Throughout the Season – Broyden Hebert
The night concluded with Ewer stating while AMHA is ending, something new is beginning.
“I am excited about our future. We have wonderful partners in our friends from Erie who have the same goals and ambitions we do,” he said. “We have doubled the number of volunteers working to make our association one of the best in Ontario. Those who stay with us will be a part of it and all of the success we’re going to have.”
AMHA holds final year-end banquet for travel players
By Ron Giofu
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