The Yorkton Terriers held their annual awards banquet last week and there was a twofold message that underlied the event.
On the one hand, there were assurances changes would be forthcoming with the team that will hit the ice this fall.
That is not a huge surprise. The Terriers have struggled ever since hoisting the Royal Bank Cup back in 2014. The team has struggled to make the playoffs and when they have made it to postseason play, they have managed one measly win.
But as bad as things have been in recent years, this past season is hopefully rock bottom. The Terriers have managed only 13 wins, and the 45 losses have often not been pretty. The Terriers scored only 136 goals this season, second lowest in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and also allowed a second-worst goals allowed at 280, which is a differential of minus-144 in only 58 games.
The on-ice performance had the team axe head coach and general manager Casey O’Brien and replace him with Mat Hehr.
To Hehr’s credit, it’s pretty obvious he understood the team was not playoff bound, so he set about moving out the 20-year-olds, leaving him 21 players eligible to return in the fall.
That is a nucleus, but Hehr has said to expect change, especially focusing on more local talent.
The local talent commitment is clearly as much about rebuilding a community connection to attract more fans, as about filling the net with goals. A Junior team needs that connection to attract fans, especially in those times where wins are a rarity.
Without that connection to local players, and only nine home ice wins to cheer about this season, fan numbers have dwindled.
Admittedly numbers across the league were soft, with only nine games in January attracting 800-plus fans, and 15-games in February, but the Farrell Agencies Arena has rarely seen 600 fans at games this season.
The season finale on Friday, with admission waived so it was a free game, attracted 812 fans.
Small crowds in a league where team operating costs are in the hundreds of thousands do not cut it. The Terriers were in the red after the 2016-17 season, and there is little doubt it will be more of the same when they hold the AGM in June.
So there needs to be a rebuild between fans and team or the red ink might well drown the franchise one day.
The team announced a move at its awards night that should be a step in that rebuild, with an early bird price of $200 for an adult season ticket, and $550 for a family.
That should quiet those who have lamented the cost of Terrier games, and make 800-plus fans a more regular occurrence. Winning would build on that.
But there are other factors.
One would be making sure the corporate City of Yorkton is involved in more than the role of landlord. The awards night is an example. Only one Yorkton Councillor was in attendance, and he was working.
It would help too, if there was a greater connection to the team’s past. Again, looking at the awards night attendees, only three or four former Terriers were in attendance, one of those working with the team. The lack of connection to Terrier players of the past doesn’t bode well for the team’s future.
The season that was, and those that preceded it, led to club president Dave Baron resigning. It was a move on his part which opens the door for renewal and the club started that process by appointing three new directors. The real executive renewal, though, should be seen in June, as one hopes many step forward recognizing change and new ideas are essential for the Terriers’ future.
The Terriers have long been an integral part of the local sport culture, and should be for years to come, but that will only be ensured through community support and the Terrier club’s willingness to adapt.
