ASSINIBOIA - The Â鶹ÊÓƵland Co-op Centre was one busy place over the weekend as over 100 young hockey players took part in the Â鶹ÊÓƵern Rebels’ hockey school.
“It was good, we had 140 registered,” said Â鶹ÊÓƵland Rebels GM Brett Tiffen. “It was an awesome weekend.”
Numbers were double last year’s attendance, something Tiffen attributes in part to excitement of hitting the ice in a new arena.
“The new rink helped bring a few people in, and I think even parents were a little curious,” he added.
It was an intensive two days, with groups ranging in age from five to 15 years, and an obvious shift in focus on skills based on those individual age groups. “We tailored it as much as we could for the age groups we had,” Tiffen explained. “There’s not a ton of time, so there’s a lot to go through in a short period of time.”
With members of this season’s Â鶹ÊÓƵern Rebels on ice with the younger set, it was also a chance for those taking part in the school to meet the team - the same guys that will be competing with the Rebels during this PJHL season.
“It’s more the kids get exposed to the program,” said Tiffen of why Rebels players helped with the hockey school. “They see the players and you hope that if they eventually continue to play hockey, that they want to play here; to be one of those guys. That’s why we have the players on the ice.”
With the new season beginning, it was also a great chance for the Â鶹ÊÓƵern Rebels to become better acquainted with each other.
“We use it as a bonding thing because we’re just firing up. Our guys are just getting to know each other, too,” Tiffen said. “We’ve got guys on the team from Hudson Bay, we’ll have guys that are playing here that played with guys that are in Saskatoon. It’s a pretty small league, in a sense. Most of the guys know each other.”
The 2022-23 season kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 6 when the Â鶹ÊÓƵern Rebels travel to Regina to take on the Silver Foxes.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, Oct. 15 and get ready to pack that new arena when the Rebels entertain the Carrot River Outback Thunder in the big home opener. “We’re expecting a lot of people,” said Tiffen, noting the huge amount of support from sponsorships, local businesses and those dedicated fans.
