The Board of Directors are building a winning tradition while trying to find ways to operate in the black said club president Lyle Walsh.
In terms of winning Walsh said the Terriers made good moves at the end of the season securing its current triumvirate of management.
"Since the season ended we were very lucky to ink three deals," he said, pointing to head coach Trent Cassan, assistant Danny McKay, and general manager Don Chesney. " We feel very confident that we have a very strong coaching staff.
"They are already busy traveling recruiting and looking for players."
From there,Walsh told those attending the team's Annual General Meeting Thursday the Board works to set a foundation to allow the coaching staff to do its job of recruiting.
"As a Board we have tried very hard to provide the team with the tools to make being part of this hockey club an enjoyable time," he said. "We want Yorkton to have and keep the reputation as the best place to play your junior hockey."
When the players come, the fans benefit, said Walsh.
"We want our fans to be treated to top notch entertainment and have an exciting, hard working group of players to cheer for," he said.
Walsh said while the team has holes to fill for the upcoming season he feels that will be accomplished.
"We think even though we lost a number of 20-year-olds that we will be able to ice a great team next year," he said, adding the players will come on the efforts of the coaching staff.
In terms of building a winning tradition, Walsh said the Terriers are on the right track."We really feel those things are happening and will improve," he said.
"It does however take a lot of money to put this all together."
Walsh said raising those dollars requires more than hockey action.
"It's a known fact that ticket sales don't raise enough money to pay all the bills," he said.
" Even after a good playoff run this year, although the perception is we should have made lots of money, the fact is we were down in season ticket sales, game day sales, and way down in lottery sales."
Those factors impacted the organization's ability to generate revenues, said Walsh. The team lost $95,000 on the year (see related story Page A1 this issue). With ticket sales not covering expenses, the team has to do other things to raise money.
"We have to do other fundraising to meet our requirements, things like bingos, sportsman dinner, golf tournaments and lotteries," said Walsh. " As fans and followers of the Terriers we must find other events and ideas to help raise money as costs keep rising all the time
"As a Board we will need to do the things necessary to review and watch expenses, but also try new things in the fundraising department to help create more cash flow
"Expenses will always be there so we need to keep working to offset them."
