In his address, Yorkton Terriers Board President Lyle Walsh said to the crowd, "This past season was a very interesting one for the Yorkton Terrier hockey club."
It looks as if the off-season will be no different.
After announcing the revamped organizational structure earlier this offseason, the Terriers held their annual general meeting on Friday.
Unfortunately, the financial news was not good for the league finalists.
The Terriers posted a loss of $95,183 for the 2009-2010 season.
The loss would have been about $50,000 more had it not been for the club's unanticipated playoff run.
A decrease in regular season revenues was a major part of the blame for the team's financial state, according to the financial report.
The Terriers suffered a $122,714 decrease in revenues from this season over the 2008-2009 regular season.
This loss was contributed to by a major decrease in season ticket and game day admissions revenue.
Money earned from season tickets fell by $23,136 over the previous year and game-day admissions were even more adversely affected, decreasing by $29,952 (to a total of $37,053) when compared to 2008-2009.
While attendance in Yorkton is not where it should be, the lack of paying customers is recognized as a problem SJHL-wide.
As Terrier management echoed during the meeting, the hope is that the financial numbers will recover as the Terriers continue to ice a winning team.
The Terrier Home Lottery was also a source of disappointment, generating $72,000 less than it did in 2009, a major decrease for one of the club's major sources of income.
While the Terriers management and board were not pleased with the numbers, the attendees were assured that new ways to generate revenue are being looked at.
The challenge of keeping expenditures down was also addressed by General Manager Don Chesney.
As Chesney explains, the emerging league's like the BCHL,?AJHL and similar ones in the USA make it difficult to lower the Terriers player expenditures at the risk of losing homegrown players.
Another issue at the AGM?was the board members, or lack thereof.
Lyle Walsh and Larry Wells accepted new two-year terms as members of the executive board.
They will work with Doug Bullis, Ward Brown and Ron Pasloski, who are on the second-year of their terms as board members. The only new board member to be elected was Gerry Smysnuik.
This leaves the board with only six members, whereas the ideal number would be closer to nine.
Nominations were not forthcoming, however, at the meeting and thus the Terriers remain short of board members.
The club made sure to emphasize that they are looking for new members all the time.
Those interested in participating should know that it is not too late to submit your interest.
On the brighter side, former Terriers Cody Zubko, Ryan Griffiths and Jordan Menke have committed to play University hockey in the fall.
Each of these players played an integral role in the Terriers run to the finals and will, no doubt, go on to further success elsewhere.
The Terriers will begin the 2010-2011 season with training camp, opening Friday, September 3.
The first rookie exhibition game will be played on September 6 against the Melville Millionaires.
