By TERRY PUGH
The new owners of the storied Notre Dame Hounds franchise are optimistic the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) team can make a successful move to Warman later this year.
But, they still have a few hoops to jump through before that happens; including: gaining the approval of Warman City Council, finalizing an agreement with the city regarding the newly-expanded Warman Home Centre Communiplex (WHCC) arena, solidifying corporate sponsorships, and selling over 1,000 season tickets.
It’s a tall order, but Cole Kachur, an investment broker from the Clavet area, and his business partner, Saskatoon lawyer Jonathan Abrametz, are confident they can make it happen. Both men are active in community and sports organizations; Kachur’s investment company recently donated $100,000 toward essential upgrades to the Clavet arena.
“The SJHL brand of hockey is a great on-ice product,” said Kachur. “A team in this league is a tremendous asset to a community; it brings in about $3 million to $5 million a year in economic benefits.
“But, at the end of the day, it will be the community which decides if it will be successful and long-tenured.”
Kachur said if Warman City Council approves the move, the ownership group intends to begin a drive for corporate sponsorships, and at the same time launch a campaign to sell season tickets.
“We have a goal of selling 1,300 season tickets,” said Kachur. “There aren’t that many seats in the arena right now, but we’re modelling this drive on the successful Winnipeg Jets campaign back in 2010 when they relocated back to Winnipeg. We want this to be the most successful and well-attended SJHL team in the league. Right now Yorkton is pushing 1,200 season ticket holders. Certainly we think with the amount of hockey in this area, and the enthusiasm of the fans for this type of hockey, we can reach that goal.”
Kachur said one of the conditions of the league is for the franchise to have a structure in place to transfer the team back to a non-profit, community ownership group after five years.
“We’re more co-founders rather than owners,” said Kachur. “We’re putting up our capital to bring the team to Warman. We want to have this franchise start with rousing success and set it on a good financial footing for a long time to come, and then pass it on to a community board made up of people who are vested in the success of hockey in the city and whole Valley region as a whole.”
Kachur said he started exploring the possibility of an SJHL expansion franchise for Warman several months ago, but it soon became apparent in discussions with SJHL Commissioner Kyle McIntyre that expansion was a non-starter. However, in late November, 2024, the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame Board of Directors, the owners of the Notre Dame franchise, reached out to Kachur about the potential sale of their team. They eventually agreed on a deal.
The SJHL Board of Governors issued a news release February 18 that it had granted conditional approval for the team’s relocation to Warman for the 2025-26 season. The league’s board is expected to give final approval at its annual general meeting in June.
Warman Mayor Gary Philipchuk said the prospect of landing an SJHL franchise is exciting, but noted the discussions between city council and the new owners of the team have been preliminary so far.
He pointed out the new team owners approached the city about the proposal; it wasn’t the other way around.
“They’re the ones who came seeking a team for Warman,” said Philipchuk. “They are sold on our city and its facility, and they’re promoting Warman as a good location for the SJHL.
“A lot of this is new information to us,” Philipchuk added. “I think it’s something we want to work toward, but there are still a lot of details that need to be dealt with. Ultimately it will be up to City Council to make a decision; and the level of community support will be another factor that plays into that. It’s not something we’re going to rush into.
“If they can sign up enough corporate sponsorships and sell enough season tickets, those are the big questions.”
Philipchuk said Warman City Council has so far had one private meeting with Kachur and Ambrametz to discuss the proposal, and the city administration is working on a report to present to the March 10 council meeting, when the issue is expected to be on the agenda.
Philipchuk noted the WHCC arena has hosted the SJHL Showcase for several years and would just require some additional seating to increase capacity.
“Our facility is really the catalyst for this,” said Philipchuk. “Another big catalyst is the addition of a second ice surface. The new expansion is on schedule to open this summer. Without that second ice surface, the question of hosting an SJHL franchise would have been a hard ‘no’ right off the bat.
“But with that additional ice surface, we’ll still be able to provide enough ice time for our local minor hockey teams and also to host tournaments again.”
Philipchuk said he hopes the existing U18AAA Wildcats program and the SJHL program, if it comes to fruition, can be complementary to each other.
“It could involve a little bit of give and take,” said Philipchuk. “The U18AAA team is investing their own funds into a new dressing room; and from what I’ve seen, there is also still enough space in the existing facility to accommodate a dressing room for an SJHL team.”
He added that having an SJHL team in the region would fill a void.
“We don’t have another SJHL team within a radius of about 100 kilometers,” said Philipchuk. “That’s a big catchment area.”
He added that an SJHL team in Warman would provide a “stepping stone” for players who age out of the local U18AAA program.
Philipchuk said if city council approves of the transfer, the city will work with the SJHL franchise ownership group to invest in upgrades to make the “game day experience” at WHCC better for spectators.
He added that those improvements will be for the benefit of all the teams that use the rink, including the minor hockey teams.
“I’m very excited about this league,” said Philipchuk. “You look at the communities that host SJHL teams, and there’s a lot of pride they take in those franchises. I guess we’ll find out if the community is ready for it by a show of corporate sponsorship and season ticket sales.”