Haliburton County Huskies general manager Ryan Ramsay is putting his money where his heart is, taking ownership of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) franchise to ensure it remains in the Highlands.
A key part of the organization dating back to its days in Whitby, Ramsay has purchased a controlling stake in the team from his father-in-law, Paul Wilson. Speaking to The Highlander Feb. 9, the pair confirmed the franchise will remain in Haliburton County for the 2026-27 season.
“This team is special to me – I moved my family up here in 2021 to try to make this work. Paul has put a lot into this, financially and just in his day-to-day… but now it’s my turn to step up and try to pull this together,” Ramsay said.
Wilson noted he’s invested over $1 million in the Huskies, including $150,000 on the team’s locker room at S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena and $20,000 installing drink rails in the rink. While support from the community has been strong, from sponsors and fans attending games, Wilson said he hasn’t turned a profit yet in the team’s five seasons in the Highlands.
That was a leading factor in him putting the organization up for sale last fall. So too his desire to take a step back from his role selling season tickets, finding sponsors and generating ads.
“I am getting a bit older and there has to be a plan for me to slowly bow out,” Wilson said. “That’s where Ryan will be stepping up a bit now.”
Wilson will be staying on as team president. Ramsay, who has juggled the general manager role with his position as skills and development coach with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes this year, confirmed he will take a more active role with the Huskies again next season.
Wilson said there were others interested in purchasing the team, but none would have kept the franchise in Haliburton County.
“Ryan and I have put a lot of effort into this. We think the team has been pretty successful. We’ve developed a great fanbase, so at least for the short-term we’re going to try to keep the team here,” Wilson said. “In turning the team over to Ryan, the key to staying here will be balancing the budget. We haven’t managed that once yet, but we made some mistakes in our early years running the team. We spent money where we probably didn’t need to. Given the experience we have now, I think we can turn this around.
The team has an annual budget of around $500,000, which covers everything from accommodation for players, payments to billet families, arena and bus rentals, registration fees with the OJHL, Hockey Canada and Ontario Hockey Association, staff salaries and equipment.
With the team’s lease up in Minden at the end of next season, Ramsay said that gives him a little over a year to right the ship.
“If I can’t make this work and the team continues to lose money, I’ll have no choice but to sell. And we know now that probably means the community loses the team,” Ramsay said.
Great support
Wilson thanked the community for backing the team over the years, noting they’re the lifeblood of the organization.
“We have to continue to get the sponsorships we’ve been getting – we can’t survive without that… attendance has been down this year, but we’re blaming that on the cold weather. This has been the coldest winter we’ve had. I can’t blame people for not wanting to sit out in that rink when it’s cold,” Wilson said.
The franchise has approached Minden Hills to enquire about installing heaters in the stands. Candace McGuigan, director of community services with the township, said that is something on the municipality’s radar.
“This is a consideration for the future and staff is actively investigating options available and [the] most cost-effective route,” McGuigan said. “We are in the early stages and consulting with other rinks with heat systems in their stands for their feedback and operational costs to run.”
Minden Hills mayor, Bob Carter, noted council has not made any commitment to install heaters.
With the Huskies recently securing a playoff spot – the fifth straight season they’ve managed that in the County – Wilson said this year’s success feels even better given the franchise’s change in approach to teambuilding last summer.
“Over the years, we’ve spent a lot of money on OHL players that we probably didn’t need to spend. This year, we decided not to go out and steal a bunch of OHL players. We believed we could bring our players up through the system and be just as good,” Wilson said.
The Huskies are fifth in the East Conference with 28 wins, 14 losses, five overtime losses and one tie. They’re two points back of the Newmarket Hurricanes and Pickering Panthers in third and fourth.
With the Huskies beating the Stouffville Spirit and Trenton Golden Hawks – the conference’s top two teams – convincingly this season, Ramsay believes this squad has what it takes to win a championship.
“The past few years our team has been right there, but, last year especially, injuries really set us back. We were pretty beat up by the end of the season… this year, we’ve managed to stay pretty healthy, and we’ve beaten all the top teams in our conference. We’ve shown we can get the better of them… I’m excited to see how far this team can go.”
