Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League team’s future in jeopardy, seeks help

French River's NOJHL team is pleading for community support to survive, citing financial losses, low attendance and a critical shortage of billet families.

With hockey season about to start, one northern Ontario team is reaching out to the community for help.

“This is a community thing -- everybody’s got to jump on board and essentially do our best this year to have the Rapids sustain their existence,” said Paul Frustaglio, president and head coach of the French River Rapids Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League team.

Frustaglio and play-by-play announcer Louis Pisano were getting the team’s dressing room ready on Wednesday.

The preparations were not only for the upcoming hockey season but for an important community open house.

Frustaglio said the team needs help from the community. He posted an open letter to the community on the team’s Facebook page.

“We’re hurting right now,” he said. “In every facet of it, from corporate sponsorship to billeting to fan support.”

The Rapids are one of the smaller communities with an NOJHL franchise. Frustaglio said some home games last season only saw 100 fans. The Noëlville Community Centre, the team’s home arena, has capacity for just under 500 spectators.

Frustaglio said the franchise has lost money in the past few years, including $40,00 in 2022 and $49,000 in 2023.

Players arrive next week, but the team doesn’t have enough billet families.

“Without billeting, you have no hockey team,” he said.

“Without ticket sales, you have no hockey team. Without corporate sponsorship, you have no hockey team. These are three important facets of running a junior hockey team and we’re just looking for help.”

He told CTV News he hopes the open house will provide input on how the team can thrive heading into the new season.

“We’re working really hard as a group to save the franchise,” Frustaglio said.

“People don’t know. So, when they do know, we’re hoping that they’ll embrace the team a little bit more – not a lot more, but a little bit more – so we can have our existence here forever and ever.“

“What I’d like to see is more support from the community,” said Pisano, who used the Toronto Blue Jays as an example of fans rallying behind a team.

“All those people in the stands, (the team is) playing so well and doing so great, and they say a lot of the time that it’s the support from the fans – the cheering, the excitement and the energy that comes from them.“

“The (Rapids) players feel it on the ice. The fans love it. There’s just ... so much energy and so much positivity. I keep saying positivity, but that’s truly what it brings,” he added.

When players arrive next Wednesday, they’ll begin with training camps and exhibition games. The team is in Blind River for its first game of the season. The home opener is set Sept. 20 at the Noëlville Community Centre against the Sudbury Cubs.