ALEXANDRIA BAY, NY – Mostly known as a small summer resort community nestled along the shores of the St. Lawrence River, Alexandria Bay is a quiet, unassuming area that belies its early days when pirates roamed the waterways.
The calm is about to be broken as the Thousand Islands Privateers of the new Federal 
Hockey League are set to begin play at the end of October. Owner Nicole Kirnan Hall and her staff are busily preparing to introduce a new entertainment venue to the locals.
“Up and down the river town it is just a beautiful resort area throughout the summer,” Kirnan Hall said. “We’re really working with a lot of the area businesses and chambers of commerce to make that into an all year round destination and bring people and visiting teams and their entertainment dollars to the area.”
Kirnan Hall, daughter of FHL commissioner and founder Don Kirnan, is certainly no stranger to the North Country or the game of hockey. She was a double major (economics and sociology) at St. Lawrence University as well as a four year member of the women’s hockey team. During her senior year in 2001, she was rewarded with an assistant captaincy as the team finished second in the NCAA Division I tournament.
Following her playing career, Kirnan Hall took on the position of head coach at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY. She coached the Div. III Valiants for five seasons, garnering three ECAC East regular season titles and five conference post-season championships. The Valiants also finished in the top four in the NCAA Div. III tournament twice under Kirnan Hall’s watch.
It was while she was at Manhattanville that Kirnan Hall completed a master’s degree in sports business management. It was the first step toward her goal of owning a hockey team.
“I was really drawn to the business side of hockey because it is a very unique business and a niche business,” Kirnan Hall said.
Along the way, she gathered experience running her own hockey camps, clinics and lessons. Kirnan Hall also became owner of a sports equipment sanitizing business – Sani Gear – based in Elmsford, NY.
Kirnan Hall’s original focus for team ownership was in the junior ranks. Thanks to her father’s involvement with the Syracuse Stars
Privateers owner Nicole Kirnan Hall at the team%27s inaugural press conference (photo courtesy of Thousand Islands Privateers).
Although Don Kirnan is the FHL’s commissioner, make no mistake, the Privateers are Nicole Kirnan Hall’s team. She is the sole owner but admits that working with her father and being able to tap into his extensive knowledge is a positive thing.
“It’s really important for me that people know that I own the team,” she said. “It’s so much fun to work together (with her father) and not everyone gets that opportunity so I really do see it as a great opportunity. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been a huge challenge to pull all this together over the last year. He has been supportive.”
Kirnan Hall’s keen sense of the region played a big role in naming the team the Thousand Islands Privateers. Being that Alexandria Bay is located in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence, the front part was easy.
The maritime history of the area also lent itself to the nickname and logo. At one time, the river way was a favorite place for pirates to rob and terrorize the populace. The heritage of those days of yore is celebrated every year with a 10-day “Bill Johnston’s Pirate Days” festival where pirates invade and take over the village. The name “Privateers” comes from a particular type of pirate – one that was a government sanctioned pirate who would attack foreign shipping vessels.
“The name Privateers is very indicative of the area,” Kirnan Hall said. “There is a lot of pride not only in the town of Alexandria Bay but also up and down the river for the role their ancestors played in the settling of the area.”
The next piece of the foundation for the Privateers was hiring a head coach and general manager. Kirnan Hall went back to her St. Lawrence roots to bring in Mike Elberty.
Elberty, a graduate of St. Lawrence University, began coaching at Kents Hill School, a prep school in Maine and Canton High School near the St. Lawrence campus. In the early 90’s, he earned a certification as a strength and conditioning trainer from the International Sports Sciences Association. While pursuing a career in New York state workers compensation law as a claimant representative, he continued to be involved in hockey as a personal trainer and scout in the Rochester area.
By 2008, he had returned to the Canton area when an opportunity to join the St. Lawrence men’s hockey program as an assistant and fitness coach. He still works with the Saints’ program, although in a diminished level now that he is part of the Privateers’ organization.
“It’s really a remarkable place to be,” Elberty said of St. Lawrence. “I’ve not only learned a lot about hockey but I’ve learned a lot about working with elite level athletes in a unique environment.”
Elberty credits long-time St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh, who is entering his 26th season behind the Saints’ bench and approaching his 500th career victory, for being a mentor who taught him a great deal about player development.
“They really buy into not only a sense of ownership I think but also the level of integrity and accountability that’s really kind of a cornerstone of the program,” Elberty said. “That comes from the top. That comes from Joe.”
Elberty’s strength and conditioning background will certainly come in handy as he gets the Privateers ready for the start of the season. Given that many of the players will be first year pros coming out of college programs that play primarily on weekends, the FHL schedule of 60 games in 20 weeks will require a whole different fitness and conditioning than they are used to. Elberty said he will focus on teaching his players how to take care of themselves physically as well as increasing their stamina while decreasing injuries created by fatigue.
Another key point of Elberty’s plan was to find an assistant coach who could communicate well with the players plus handle a “full plate” of duties. That man turned out to be Shawn Fensel, yet another Privateer staffer with ties to St. Lawrence University. A four-year starter on defense and a two-year captain for the Saints, Fensel signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones a year ago but never played because of an injury. Elberty offered the assistant coach / Director of Hockey Operations job to Fensel to give the young man time to physically heal while gaining valuable coaching and management skills.
“He leads by example. He’s that kind of guy and he’s very dedicated,” Elberty said of Fensel. “He does the right stuff, takes care of himself. He’s also very cerebral when it comes to hockey in general.”
With a population under 1,200, Alexandria Bay is not a prototypical hockey town. However, the surrounding Jefferson County area, which includes Watertown and the Fort Drum area, was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2009 as holding some 118,718 residents. Fort Drum itself supports 18,000 troops when units are not deployed to go along with a civilian population of 17,000. With the military having access to transportation for group outings, the Privateers see Fort Drum as a major part of their marketing plan and are working closely with the Fort Drum Community Recreation Division to promote the team.
Another potential fan base lies just across the border. There are Canadian three major junior teams (OHL Kingston Frontenacs, OPJHL Kingston Voyageurs and CJHL Brockville Braves), a situation that Kirnan Hall sees as a benefit as opposed to competition because of the difference in level and the ability for the junior fans to see some of their favorite players on pro rosters.
“They are used to already seeing their names in the paper and following them,” Kirnan Hall said. “I think they are going to love seeing these players a year or two down the road when they are just that much bigger, faster and stronger.”
The region’s vacation-type aura will greet everyone who attends Privateers home games as the Bonnie Castle Recreation Center (or BCRC), owned by the Bonnie Castle Resort, will be the team’s venue. Although the general seating is less than 3,000, there are a variety of group and VIP options that can allow more fans in. The building hosts a restaurant with some rink view seating and the center as a whole has three bars on site.
The owners of the resort are in the process of upgrading the facilities in preparation for hosting the Privateers. A team suite, including new locker rooms with individual wood-crafted stalls, training and weight rooms and marketing offices, will give the players a first-class feel. Fans will also benefit from face-lift renovations such as player bench expansions, concession reorganization and lobby renovations.
“In evaluating the facility when we first approached, they had all the elements we were looking for,” Kirnan Hall said. “Some of the elements had to be changed, added to or fixed up, but they had the basis of all of the ingredients needed for a successful professional product.”
Both Kirnan Hall and Elberty know that hockey fans in the North Country and southern Ontario are discerning and knowledgeable about the game. Because Elberty is expecting to bring in many players who have major junior and NCAA Division I experience with designs on progressing up the developmental ladder, he and Kirnan Hall believe that the fans will be more than impressed with what they see on the ice.
Beyond putting a competitive team together, the Privateers – along with the rest of the FHL – will be in the business of developing players for higher leagues. That fact alone makes Elberty think that the players who join the league will be energetic, hungry and ready to learn.
“I’m looking to get guys that are relatively new out of junior hockey or college hockey that are hungry, that really want to get to the next level,” he said.
Kirnan Hall has a clear goal of developing players for call-ups, especially within the region.
“If a team needs a player that night, we have access and the ability to get them there for tonight’s game. Some of the other A-level leagues may not have that,” she said. “Initially in our first year we want to move as many players up to the next level as possible because that’s what we are. We’re an A-level league and we’re in a great location.”
And if everything works the right way, Kirnan Hall, Elberty and the rest of the Privateers have a great shot at stealing the hearts of the North Country and commandeering an FHL championship in the process.
Contact the author at wendy.hull@prohockeynews.com
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