Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The 2018-19 Sask. West Hockey League (SWHL) season will mark the return of the Kindersley Sr. Klippers hockey club to the league. The Red Lions are no more.
Not only has the team adopted a recognizable name for senior hockey in the community, the Sr. Klippers have a new coaching staff and new executive team in place. The team also won its first exhibition game of the season by a score of 4-2 on the road against the Outlook Ice Hawks.
The team’s first game at home is this Friday night at the Co-op Arena against the Macklin Mohawks at 8:30 p.m. The team will wrap up its exhibition schedule on the back half of a home and home in Macklin on Oct. 28 in the evening.
[emember_protected for=”2″ custom_msg=’For more on this story, please see this week’s print edition of The Clarion.’]
Brady Newmeyer has taken over as the team’s general manager while Clayton Artymovich has taken over as team president. Matt Glencross will be the team’s new head coach and Tyson Parson will be the assistant coach. The remaining members of the team’s board are Brady Bitz, Travis Longmire and Reed McBride.
The schedule for the upcoming season is available on the SWHL website and the Sr. Klippers will open their season on the road on Nov. 10 against the Mohawks. The team’s first home game at the Co-op Arena is on Nov. 24 against the Biggar Nationals.
In other league news, the Eatonia Huskies are taking a one-year hiatus due to a lack of player commitments. The absence of the Huskies leaves seven teams for the 2018-19 season and the teams will play an 18-game schedule.
Newmeyer said the hockey club had come to a bit of a crossroads with the league as the Red Lions and he was approached by the team to see if he could help. A part of the discussion was to get back to being the community’s hockey team and there was a desire to resurrect the team’s old colours from its days as the Sr. Klippers, he said.
He noted that team executives had discussed keeping the Red Lions name and just switching back to the old colours, but the Red Lions name had a bit of a black eye with the Saskatchewan Hockey Association. Therefore, it was decided to transition back to the former name.
With a new board and coaching staff, Newmeyer said it made sense for the team to adopt the old name and look. He said the team is trying to get younger guys from the community to play senior hockey again, so a wholesale change was needed.
“The big part of the change is we have to change the culture in the dressing room on and off the ice,” he said, adding that a cultural shift was the big change from his perspective as general manager. “We’re flying the Kindersley flag.”
Newmeyer said, essentially, it is the same team, but the look and feel of the team is going to change. He stressed that he wanted to thank Robin Bowden and everyone else involved with the Red Lions hockey club over the years for their hard work and dedication. It was not an easy decision to make, he said.
The shift to a younger on-ice product features three new additions to the team including former Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers Kyle Donaldson and Brody Ryberg, and former West Central Rage most valuable player Landon Longmire.
“We’re here to brand a new look,” the general manager said, adding that the change will be favourable within senior hockey circles across the province and executives are excited about the season and an opportunity to grow the game in Kindersley with a competitive team.
Glencross said he was approached by Newmeyer and Artymovich to coach the team and after a bit of convincing, he accepted the role. Glencross has coached minor hockey, but he recognized that coaching adults will be a learning curve for him. He said there will be similarities and differences.
The team had about four practices before its exhibition game in Outlook, and the team would get a couple practices in this week before its home and home with Macklin on the weekend, he said. The coach sees the makings of a competitive group.
[/emember_protected]
