Kings celebrate franchise’s second most successful season

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Agra Risk Wheatland Kings capped off a successful season, April 2, celebrating their players and saying goodbye to those aging out with their annual awards banquet. 

Cody Holdaway, the team’s general manager, explained though they did not walk away with the championship this season, it was still among the best the team has ever had. 

“There was still lots to celebrate. The team has had two of the best seasons in its franchise history back-to-back … there were lots of milestones for our players, and we are always proud to celebrate another successful season of junior hockey,” he said. “It was the second-best season in franchise history. Charlie Goll broke the franchise record for all time most assists, and he is committed to playing next year, so he has got a whole other season to pad that record.”

Holdaway added for him, the other big takeaway is being able to make memories with the team being on the road travelling across the province together.

For two years in a row, the Kings have earned themselves a first round bye come playoffs, and have been upset from that position, unable to proceed further.

“I think next year, we are going to be a force to be reckoned with. We have already started building for next year; we are back on the ice with our ID camp at the end of the month here,” said Holdaway.

The ID skate will take place at the Chestermere Recreation Centre, scheduled for April 25-26,  offering players a chance to showcase their skill and allow the Kings organization to begin evaluating potential new players for their roster. 

On the flip side, the team is saying goodbye to four of its members who are aging out, including Josh Alberda, who accumulated five seasons with the Kings between playing as an underage, to his overage season. 

“It is pretty bittersweet – obviously it does not happen very often. We use the term ‘ultra vet’ because he is an ultra-veteran of our program and it is definitely special,” said Holdaway. “When Josh came in, he was 16-17 years old, so in a sense we really watched Josh grow up and become a man in our organization, so that is pretty special.”

He added for the players, the banquet was one last night to get together. Many of whom, he relayed, described the season as the most fun they had ever had playing hockey.

Never a moment to spare, Holdaway added several of the Kings roster have made mention of wanting to sign on for next year, confirmed the retention of their Head Coach, Doug Raycroft, as well as all of their assistant coaches.

Holdaway added during the banquet, it was announced that KIDCO Construction has donated another $10,000 to the team to assist with their expenses next season. 

This follows the previous $10,000 donated last year which was utilized to renovate the Kings dressing rooms.

The award winners were as follows: Top Forward, Charlie Goll; Strathmore Times Player of the Year, Connor White; Most Defensive, Trey Kam; Top Defenseman, Devon Barody; Top Scorer, Luke Nottveit; King of the Year, Connor White; Most Improved, Evan McNair; Most Valuable Player, Luke Nottveit; Most Dedicated, Evan Dean; Rookie of the Year: William Lapohn.