Yorkton Terrier head coach Trent Cassan echoed Terrier board chair Lyle Walsh in his expressions of appreciation for the individuals and organization who supported the team throughout the season.
In addition Cassan thanked the Yorkton Terrier executive for doing a remarkable job in supporting and providing for the team.
Cassan acknowledged the efforts of Terriers staff and their contributions to the season, including the team doctors, chaplain, education coordinator Garry Gaw-ryliuk, strength and conditioning coach Laura Dean, team trainer and staff, the Terrier office manager Lisa, director of player personnel Gary Carson, assistant GM Gord Pritchard, assistant coach Casey O'Brian, team billets and the Terrier players.
He says the past season was reasonably good in terms of numbers of wins and where the team placed at the end of the regular season. The team showed a lot of improvement from the beginning of the season to the end of the year, Cassan states.
Looking ahead to the next season, Cassan says he'll be working to attract and commit some younger players to the team. He says there were some promising younger players who were called on as APs to play with the Terriers this year. "You want to get your younger kids because every year there's a turnover of players," he points out. There's a cycle in junior hockey and no year is the same and no team is the same, Cassan adds.
Currently the Terriers graduate six players. There will likely be a number of players who move on and/or up to other leagues. A lot can happen between now and the start of the next season, Cassan suggests. "Junior hockey is a year-to-year cycle," he says. Players have girlfriends, families, work and or school/university which influence their decisions, he explains which makes returning players in the fall a guess.
During the off season Cassan says he'll be doing some recruiting. He'll attend some camps in western Canada to scout prospects and do some networking.
He'll possibly take some downtime to himself this summer as well. As well he will find some time to help with the family farm this spring, weather and moisture conditions permitting. "I hope to help out more than I was able to do last year," he says.
The Terrier spring camp will run Friday, Saturday, Sunday, April 20 to 22, Cassan reports.
