Kings invite students to playoff series for free

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

nounced they are offering free admission to students over the course of their playoff run this season.

“It is just something that we wanted to do to give back; we do not need to be nickel and diming our students, and it costs the team nothing to give back, so we are proud to give students free admission throughout the entire playoff run,” said Cody Holdaway, general manager of the Agra Risk Wheatland Kings. “For those who do not know, my mom works in the school system, our head coach is the principal of the local high school, so we just sat down and we had a discussion like, ‘hey, why don’t we do this,’ and it was actually Doug (Raycroft’s) idea to get more of the high school kids out.”

Earlier in the season, the Kings hosted a Student Night where local students were given free admission on a specific night, and for any typical home game, students already get half price admission.

For this year’s playoff run, the goal is to get as many fans out as possible as often as possible to cheer on the team.

“It is the first time in franchise history that the team has received a first-round bye. As we go into the south semifinal, we are pretty excited to be able to face off against the Cubs,” said Holdaway. 

“Nothing is not within reach, we know what we need to do, we know what job needs to be done and I think we can do it.”

This Kings roster has set the franchise record for the single most wins over the course of a season, with a final score of 27 wins, 10 losses, and one overtime loss, netting 55 league points. 

Holdaway noted the previous record was 17 wins. This record was broken prior to Christmas, which marked just shy of the halfway point through the season. 

“Just over a year ago when I took office, I promised a bold new era and a new face for hockey in the region and I think we have accomplished that – everything from our fan experience to the presence we have online, we have reimagined everything from the ground up and we are not done yet,” he said. “Just from being out in the community and online, I think fan support for this club is at an all-time high. We have never seen support like this … obviously the wins help with that, but I think this team does a lot of the work in the community as well and we give back so I think people are giving back to us as well.”

The first games of the playoff series against the Medicine Hat Cubs took place Feb. 22 and 23. Game 3 is scheduled for Feb. 26.