Music: {allcanada} TUGNUTT FINDS HOME IN CCHL

Friday, June 1, 2012

{allcanada} TUGNUTT FINDS HOME IN CCHL

Four the past four years, The Ottawa Citizen points out former Senators netminder Ron Tugnutt has lived far away from the hustle and bustle of big-city Ottawa life.

Ottawa may not be Toronto, of course, but compared to the quiet landscape of Stony Lake, north of Peterborough, Ottawa is fast paced.

"Winters out in the middle of the lake with absolutely no neighbours and wolves running around outside," is how Tugnutt described that landscape Thursday night, as he sat at the Kemptville 73's table for the Central Canada Hockey League draft at the Earl Armstrong Arena.

As of Monday, Tugnutt is now the co-owner of the 73's along with Bob Thompson, so after leaving Stittsville four years ago to head north, Tugnutt and his wife, Lisa, are looking for a house in Kemptville to raise their family and help raise the 73's in the standings.

"I think (Lisa liked) the idea of coming back and seeing her friends, and being part of hockey again. When we looked at this it was an easy fit. We took a drive around Kemptville and found a community that can really embrace a team like this. Our initiative is to make sure that this is Kemptville's team, not Bob's and mine."

The 73's finished 11th in the 12-team CCHL last season with a 13-44-15 record, and while Tugnutt wasn't making any of the decisions Thursday, he will be taking a more active role with the team once next season get closer.

"It would be unfair for me to make decisions right now because my knowledge is zero. Once we start establishing the team, I'll have a lot more input there from a hockey operations standpoint and evaluating players," said Tugnutt, who is also the Hockey Canada goaltending consultant for the under-20 program.

Tugnutt feels the team can be a success and he's looking forward to being a part of that. "I want to be a part of it and working with great people I expect great things to happen and I think we can achieve that in Kemptville."