The end result wasn’t the same, but the excitement level was certainly there says SJHL president Bill Chow in assessing the 2014-15 campaign.
“Overall it was a very competitive league,” acknowledged Chow. “We went down to the last weekend of the regular season before everything was decided so that
is something to be
proud of.”
“The coaches, players, volunteers and organizations have to be recognized for what they do,” added Chow. “It really has become a very competitive league.”
The Melfort Mustangs came up just short in bringing a second straight RBC Cup to the league [Yorkton Terriers won it all in 2013-14], but their performance during the league playoffs, the Western Canada Cup and national championship tournament was nothing short of amazing says Chow.
“To get out of the SJHL is a task in itself,” admits Chow. “Any one of the last four [Melfort, Nipawin Hawks, Notre Dame Hounds, Kindersley Klippers] would have made a great representative regardless of who won.”
“Melfort did a great job and represented us well,” noted Chow.
In addition to the strong regular season and thrilling playoffs, Chow says the very successful World Junior “A” Challenge held in Kindersley just before Christmas was another highlight.
“The Kindersley Klippers’ organization and their volunteers did a great job in hosting that event – it was excellent,” says Chow.
“Now we have Estevan coming up,” added Chow in reference to the Bruins hosting the 2016 Western Canada Cup in April. “It should be another great event for our league to be hosting.”
Chow also feels that the league has made great strides in communicating information to the fans and recruitment of players to post-secondary opportunities has also been on the rise, which is one of the mandates of the league.
“Collectively as a group, I think the coaches, governors and volunteers are finding better ways to communicate with the public,” says Chow. “Everyone is starting to realize the players are just as good here and Melfort did a real good job in representing that.”
Making the teams financially stronger is still very high on the list of to-dos as evidenced by the crisis that the Weyburn Red Wings have endured this past season. Chow says work is still being done to find a major corporate sponsor for the league to help in that end, but each individual organization has to continue raising funds and finding new ways to generate revenue.
That will undoubtedly be on the agenda at this week’s annual general meeting in Nipawin, but kicking off the start of the new campaign will be the first-ever draft of Saskatchewan players and Chow is excited about this new venture.
“The buzz I have caught is that it is generating more interest in the league,” says Chow. “Maybe some Saskatchewan kids will realize that there is interest in them and they will want to stay here to play their junior hockey.”
The league schedule for 2015-16 will also be worked on at the AGM in addition to coaches and governor’s meetings to complete the busy weekend.
– Dave Leaderhouse, SJHL
