By TERRY PUGH
The Martensville Chiefs are loving their new home in the ‘old’ rink.
Since relocating from Delisle in the off-season, the Prairie Junior Hockey League (PJHL) team is unbeaten in their home barn, the Martensville Sports Centre.
The Chiefs downed the visiting Saskatoon Westleys 6-0 in pre-season action on Sunday, September 7.
“The team looked really good last Sunday,” said Chiefs General Manager Brennan Hall in an interview Tuesday, September 9, “We’re excited for the new season. We’ve got a solid group that includes a lot of returning players. I think our strongest assets are our goaltending and defense. We’ve got a 21-year-old goalie who’s looking for another shot at the championship, and four of our six defensemen are 20-year-olds.
“Having said that, we’ve also got a lot of firepower up front, with nine returning forwards who know how to score.”
And even though the win against the Westleys was a pre-season exhibition game, it was still sweet for those veterans, who lost Game 7 in the PJHL division finals last spring to those same opponents.
“There’s definitely some rivalry there,” said Hall. “Anytime our guys see that green ‘W’ – they’re looking for a little revenge. That rivalry is good for both teams; and we’ll see them again once more in pre-season before our home opener against them on Saturday, September 27.
“We picked that opponent by design.”
The Chiefs face off again on home ice in pre-season play against the Saskatoon Royals on Sunday, September 14. That’s followed by two more exhibition games: Saturday, September 20 in Saskatoon against the Royals, and in Martensville on Sunday, September 21 against the Westleys.
The team’s regular season home opener is against the Westleys on Saturday, September 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Martensville Sports Centre.
The team roster as of Tuesday, September 9 includes two players from Warman: Lukas Viden and Jared Burnett. Both are returning players.
“They’re very talented,” said Hall. “And they’re both super excited to get an opportunity to play closer to home. They were two of the first guys that texted me last spring after the announcement the team was moving to Martensville.”
Hall said the team is looking forward to recruiting more local players in the coming years.
“With 90 per cent of the roster returning this season, there weren’t many spots available,” said Hall. “And also, a lot of the local players in this area had already committed to other PJHL teams prior to learning that we were moving; so it was a little too late for us.
“But we’re hoping we can grow that local pipeline this winter and attract kids in the AA and AAA programs for coming years.”
There should be plenty of roster vacancies in the near future, added Hall.
“We’re an older team this season,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of experience in the lineup and we’ve set our sights on the league championship. We came close last season, and the guys are hungry to go all the way this year.”
Hall said the decision by the team executive to relocate to Martensville from Delisle last spring was the result of a number of factors.
“It was something the organization had been looking at for a long time,” said Hall. “But in the last couple years we explored the options seriously. When Martensville completed its new arena, we inquired about playing there, but it wasn’t practical. So we figured, ‘why not ask about the Martensville Sports Centre – the old arena?’ It turned out we were a perfect fit, and we’re super happy about it.
“The city wanted a new user group in there to continue to help generate revenue, and they were looking for more ways to utilize the arena, which they’ve invested a lot of money to upgrade. They put in a new ice plant, which was great because it allowed us to get on the ice earlier.”
Hall said the team is very appreciative of the support of the Delisle community over the last 17 years.
“There’s no knock against the town of Delisle at all,” said Hall. “In fact, the folks there are remarkable and we have a lot of great memories from our time there. They have a strong senior men’s team and it’s hard for a small town to support two teams.
“So, the reality is that it was time for the Chiefs to move to a place with a bigger population to find more sponsorships and fan support. We’re confident Martensville will be a good place for us. There’s been a lot of buzz around the team and we had a very good turnout for our first pre-season game.”
Hall said fans in the Martensville-Warman region have a lot of choices when it comes to hockey, with both male and female AA teams, a male U18AAA team, a male Junior B and a male Junior A team, as well as senior men’s and women’s hockey and minor hockey.
“It’s great to see the SJHL Wolverines get established in Warman,” he said. “It’s an amazing opportunity for kids in the area. If any of our guys are keen to make the jump to Junior A, we’ll help them. The beauty of Junior B is that it’s very competitive, but it still allows players to work or go to college. It’s not their full-time job and there’s less pressure.
“The bottom line is there are options at both levels for players to play Junior hockey closer to home.”