Kings celebrate past season, announce financial injection

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporte

The Agra Risk Wheatland Kings hosted their annual awards banquet, April 4, at the Strathmore Family Center to celebrate the players and their accomplishments over the course of the season. 

After a franchise record-breaking season, which saw the Kings finish second in the HJHL Southern Division with 55 points, the team was ultimately eliminated 3-1 in the second round series versus the Medicine Hat Cubs. 

A total of 10 awards were presented to players over the course of the banquet. The winners were presented as follows: Top Scorer – Cole Tweit; Top Defenseman – Tegan Skehar; MVP – Tegan Skehar; Strathmore Times Player of the Year – Cole Tweit; Top Forward – Philip Raycroft; Most Improved Player – Hayden Baker; Rookie of the Year – Derrick Ford; Most Dedicated Player – Joel Romano; Most Defensive Player – Lachlan Stewart; King of the Year – Adam Moore.

“We really just selected our best-on-best and the coaches knew who they wanted for those awards,” said Cody Holdaway, general manager for the Wheatland Kings. 

“Especially for our graduating players – our grad class, I think three out of the four of them have played four straight seasons with us, so it was definitely a big night for a couple of the guys.”

Lachlan Stewart, Kobe Gosling, and Joel Romano have been with the Kings for the last four years. Tegan Skehar was with the Kings for two seasons. 

“They are all definitely big pieces of our roster and our leadership group for sure, but we are already working on building bigger and better for next season and we are going to be a force to be reckoned with again,” said Holdaway. 

He added despite being an emotional night for the players, it was all about celebrating them rather than dwelling on the disappointment of elimination. 

The Kings have also announced a $10,000 capital injection provided by Kidco Construction for the team to be able to renovate their dressing room.

“$10,000 is a lot of money. The dressing room is really the heart of our team. It is where our team prepares and builds for every game, so now thanks to Kidco … we now have all the money necessary to complete a full and total renovation of our dressing room,” said Holdaway. 

He explained the team has been fundraising for this project for the last three years. Now, with the new injection, there is enough of a budget pooled to pull the trigger. 

The current locker stalls are approximately 15 years old. The facility has effectively been unchanged since the Strathmore AAA hockey team was previously playing in town. 

Holdaway said he was proud to announce the old locker stalls were ripped out, Mar. 6, and will be ready for use prior to the start of the upcoming season.

“We had been pitching this donation to several large corporations over the past month, and then the day before the banquet, we started conversations with Kidco,” he explained. “There are actually a lot of our alumni who work for Kidco so we have a pretty strong relationship with some of the higher-ups.”

A contract with Southern Stars Custom Woodwork was signed relating to the project on April 7. Holdaway anticipates a project timeline of approximately one or two months.