It was a double whammie of bad news for those attending the Yorkton Terrier Hockey Club annual general meeting Monday.
The first bad news was that the team鈥檚 bid for the 2018 Royal Bank Cup had not been accepted.
Hockey Canada instead awarded the national Junior A Championship聽 to Chillwack, even though British Columbia hosted the event in 2014 with Vernon the host city.
鈥淩ight now the wounds are a bit raw,鈥� admitted Terrier president Dave Baron Tuesday in an interview with Yorkton This Week, adding anytime something is rejectted, it stings.
Baron said the decision to go with Chilliwack was not made because of many things in the bid.
鈥淚t was nothing big,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t seemed we didn鈥檛 have a guarantor. We didn鈥檛 think it was fair to put the City on the hook, or the Terrierrs on the hook.鈥�
But the Chilliwack bid apparently had guaranteed dollars flowing to Hockey Canda.
鈥淩eading between the lines, that was a significant factor,鈥� said Baron, adding 鈥溾�� We put down what we thought we could do.鈥�
Asked if the team would apply again next year, Baron said it was a bit early to decide that.
鈥淏ut, I鈥檓 not sure what the committee wpould say if I asked them right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure what we could change (in a future bid).鈥�
The second piece of bad news the AGM revealed was that the franchise lost money for the third straight season.
This past season though was a much larger deficit at $42,000, said Baron.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the third year in-a-row. There were two smaller ones, but this one kind of kicked us in the pants,鈥� he said.
The problem was a loss of 100-150 season tickets.
鈥淲e knew early on we were in trouble,鈥� said Baron, who added the demographic of older season ticket holders is an issue as some move, some pass-on, and others find it increasingly difficult to get out to games in the winter.
So what to do?
鈥淚t鈥檒l be hard,鈥� said Baron.
Baron said he is confident the team will be better on the ice this year, after struggling as a young group at times this past season.
But it will take more than just a better record to erase a debt near $40,000/.鈥淲e need a younger demographic coming to our games,鈥� said Baron. 鈥溾�� We have to reinvent ourselves.鈥�
