Kings look for team-first approach

By Melissa Crispin-Piche Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Agra Risk Wheatland Kings have enough talent to expect more of themselves. General manager Cody Holdaway wants to see that talent start working together.

With the Kings sitting with a 5-3 record, they place somewhere in the middle of the standings. Holdaway said the club had yet to meet the expectations he and the coaching staff brought into the season.

“We have a very talented top-end group of guys,” he said. “We’re just not playing as a team right now.”

For Holdaway, the immediate challenge is getting players to put the group ahead of individual success. Coaches have been making adjustments in practice with an emphasis on how the Kings work together.

“When you put the same jersey on as the guy next to you, you’re going to war together, not war for yourself,” said Holdaway.

Roughly 10 new players joined the dressing room this season. While that has changed the mix, Holdaway said many already knew one another before becoming Kings. Building chemistry remains part of the work, but unfamiliarity alone does not explain the team’s uneven start.

Away from the standings, the players have another reason to find the net.

Through the club’s Goals for Cancer initiative, Agra Risk Solutions is donating $20 for every Kings goal this season to support the Canadian Cancer Society. The program gives the team’s offence a purpose that reaches beyond the rink. 

For Holdaway, the cause is personal. His grandfather died of cancer 16 years ago and members of the team’s off-ice volunteer crew are dealing with the disease while continuing to help at games.

“I don’t think there’s really anyone out there anymore that hasn’t been affected by this disease,” he said.

Holdaway estimated the running total was approaching $700, with the potential to raise several thousand dollars by season’s end. No other businesses had committed matching donations at that point, although he hoped more sponsors would get involved as the total grew.

The Kings were also planning their annual Hockey Fights Cancer game in conjunction with the Canadian Cancer Society, with an online donation link to be made available closer to the event.

“Obviously, as a player you always want to put the puck in the back of the net,” Holdaway said. “But knowing that this year it just means that little bit more is extra special.”

The club’s community commitments also offer players a chance to spend time together outside the dressing room.

Holdaway said a planned team-building day would split the roster between helping set up the Celebration of Lights at the Strathmore Ag Society baseball diamonds and assisting with the Hope Bridges Artists Among Us Gala, followed by an afternoon together.

Those efforts are part of a responsibility he believes comes with representing Strathmore, particularly when residents continue to turn out at the rink.

Holdaway said home crowds range from roughly 400 to as many as 600 fans, support the organization values. 

“We have one of the best fans supports in our league,” he said. “And we definitely don’t take that for granted.”

The Kings want to reward that backing with stronger hockey. For now, Holdaway’s message is straightforward; the ability is there, but the results will depend on players buying into one another.

Fans can find the team’s schedule at wheatlandkings.com with additional club updates on Facebook and Instagram.