Expectations are high once again for the Fort Erie Meteors and head coach/general manager Nik Passero wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Mets are coming off a strong season that saw them win 33 games and make it to the Golden Horseshoe Conference finals for the second consecutive year, which translates into setting the bar high again this season.
“I think there’s pressure here and the pressure to be improving all the time, so we’re excited for it,” Passero said. “Everyone wants to develop and get to the next level, but if you don’t win or win games, it’s a long season.
“We do everything here to improve things so we can win and give our players the best opportunity. That’s what we’re here for.”
Passero is entering his fifth season at the helm and has quickly turned the Meteors into a go-to destination
“I think day-to-day it might be a little easier but there’s a lot more pressure and expectations now than there was in 2020 and I think in general we enjoy that,” he said. “We like putting the best organization forward for this group.”
The Meteors will ice a team heavy on local and experienced talent, particularly on the backend where captain Rylan Masterson returns along with fellow veterans Cam Thorpe, Owen Cressman, and RJ Schmidt.
“We’ll always be good defensively because of our four 20-year-old defencemen,” Passero said.
Big Trent Vaillancourt, added from the Falcons, and rookie Alex Masotti round out the defence.
Up front, it’s more of the same with the return of Eastern Conference All-Star Sam Tonelli, Danny Adamo, Tate Donald, Colton Radford, Ethan Pepperall, Hunter Coley, Eric Cunningham and Aiden Zimmerman.
Passero said with so many veterans, it gives the Meteors a leg up on the competition.
“We don’t have to start from scratch, so that’s nice,” he said. “But there’s still lots of stuff to do. When you’re on top, you want to get better, you want to make changes to improve. So our group coming back knows that we have lots of stuff to do.”
Newcomers include Easton Poirier, who played well for the St. Catharines Falcons in the playoffs last season, Niagara IceDogs draft pick Reece Matier and Liam Kerr, a 17-year-old Toronto native.
“I think we’ve made it a priority to score this off-season and we’ve changed some things,” Passero said. “I think that’s important for us because we want to score.”
In goal, IceDogs draft pick Finn Moffett, an 18-year-old St. Catharines native, is set to take over as the starting job with local Ryan Schultz as the back-up.
“We’ll get Ryan some starts when we can, but it’s Finn’s ball and we’ll let him go,” Passero said.
Schultz, who played last season at the Fort Erie International Academy, has been impressive.
“He’s a Fort Erie kid that has probably been the biggest surprise for us over training camp,” Passero said. “He’s absolutely stood on his head, so we’re excited to have a local kid in net.”
Masterson will be aided in the leadership department by assistant captains Schmidt, Thorpe, Coley and Tonelli.
“We have guys not in our leadership group that have played in our league for four years, that’s how good our leadership group is,” Passero said.
The Meteors open the 2025/26 Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League season at home Saturday versus Caledon before heading to Caledonia Sunday night.
Passero is eager to get started.
“There are a lot of eyes on us. Coming into Fort Erie on a Saturday night, you know, we used to get maybe teams’ B and C effort, but not anymore. Teams look to come here and beat us on home ice.”
