Is there a more dangerous hockey animal these days at the junior A level than Jerome Dupont with time on his hands?

Probably not.

Based on an exit in the Ontario Provincial Jr. A Hockey League playoff quarter-finals in the spring, the Aurora Tigers’ master recruiter and head coach has had plenty of time to rebuild the Tigers for the 2008-09 season.

Essentially, that’s an extra month to prepare — not including a post-season cooling out period — the Tigers’ boss did not have to work with prior to last season.

Recall, coming off a defeat in the North Division final in 2006, Dupont merely used the added downtime to assemble a roster that steamrolled to a Canadian Jr. A Hockey League championship.

Training camp is barely under way and rosters are far from being set, but look for the Tigers, with eight or nine returnees, to, once again, emerge as the team to beat in the North Division, perhaps the OPJHL and, well, who knows.

Charity pucks

The Newmarket Hurricanes are shifting their annual charity game to Dec. 27 and will face the Couchiching Terriers in an exhibition game dedicated to the memories of KJ Ramolla and Josh Sedore.

Ramolla, a forward with the team for the past two seasons, was killed in a car accident in June, just days before the teenaged son of Hurricanes assistant coach Steve Sedore died.

Ramolla was a former member of the Terriers and Sedore served as an assistant coach with the Orillia club.

Proceeds will be split between the KJ Ramolla Memorial Fund and Southlake Regional Health Centre.

The game replaces the pre-season Battle of Yonge Street between the Hurricanes and Aurora Tigers.

Shoot the ball!

The Argentina team in the Aurora Youth Soccer Club’s girls under-8 division is proof a shot on goal is never a bad thing.

The team donated a cheque for $235 to the Right To Play program following an on-field fundraiser.

It worked this way: for every shot on the opponents’ goal, the parents on the sidelines agreed to ante up 25 cents to the players’ account.

Right To Play is an international program that enables children from underprivileged countries to participate in sports.

 Net results

To its credit, the Town of Newmarket is installing protective netting for fans and players between two ball diamonds and the soccer pitch at the Newmarket fairgrounds — at long last — and clearly at the urging of the Newmarket Soccer Club.

Mind you, this has only been an issue since the dawn of soccer in Newmarket some 48 years ago as errant foul balls from the ball diamonds are dangerous missiles looking for a head to conk.

So, why not complete the task and block off the foul lines on both sides of McKnight Field to protect neighbouring back yards and pedestrians from being conked on the noggin by errant foul balls?

One for the ages

Not too many years ago, some hockey folks in Canada pointed to European countries as very smart for permitting children to develop their skills without the pressure of competitive games until their teenage years.

The reasoning being an emphasis on winning detracted young players from developing individual skills.

On the other hand, host China, and other countries whose propaganda machinery prefers to make political statement through sports dominance, are producing Olympic and world champions by rushing youngsters into intense and highly competitive training programs at young ages.

Wonder which is the right method?

Just Jawin’ ... Had it not been for a recall to the Washington Nationals for Peter Orr a few weeks prior to roster deadlines, Newmarket High School might have had three rooting interests at the Beijing Games. Swimming backstroker Lindsay Seemann is a student at NHS and softball pitcher Robin Mackin, along with Orr, is a graduate ... Somehow the results of Newmarket resident Brandon Kingston at the North American Challenge Cup in Edmonton earlier this month were overlooked. Kingston matched Newmarket Stingrays clubmate Matthew Swanston with wins in three events — the 200, 400 and 1,500-metre backstroke. He was also third in the 400 individual medley ... Despite rumours to the contrary, the Bob Forhan rink at the Magna Centre will not be converted into an indoor soccer facility for the upcoming winter.