The Nipawin Hawks may not be getting wins on the ice this season, but the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) club is still the talk of the tight-knit town.
This season is the 40th anniversary of the club, so planning for a big season has been underway for months. The highlight so far this year was Oct. 25 and 26 when the team honoured Greg Classen and retired his number 9 jersey followed by a celebratory banquet the next night. The game on Friday had well over 800 people in attendance to welcome Classen home and hundreds more took in the banquet at the Evergreen Centre. President Shayne Pickering said the weekend was an amazing celebration of the organization and the entire Classen family.
“Greg and his family are a huge part of the Hawks organization,” he said. “It was awesome to celebrate with him, it was a great weekend. Overall, it was good financially for the team as well. Just an exceptional weekend.”
In the summer while planning for the season and how to honour four decades of the team in Nipawin, Pickering said making the games affordable and getting people back to the ‘Cage’ was crucial. The club dropped season ticket prices and sold over 420 packages. Pickering said despite the Hawks record the fan support hasn’t sputtered, and he wanted to thank the fans for sticking with the team.
“The support we have received so far this year, the crowds have been excellent. With the price of season tickets that’s what we wanted; we wanted to get people back in the building. It’s an excellent family night out. The support is there, the players feel the pressure, and hopefully they start putting up some wins,” Pickering said.
Nipawin is currently on a 10 day break which coincides with the SJHL-MJHL All-Star Showcase in Warman that begins Tuesday. The Hawk’s record is 2-11-1, they are currently in 12th place. Kozun is in his third full season behind the bench. In the offseason the team lost arguably their three top players in Vito Biondo III (who has returned), Landon Pappas and goaltender Damon Cunningham. With eight players graduating last year that left the Hawks with a young roster forcing Kozun’s hand at going with an inexperienced group and five returnees. Pickering said the board is behind the process and stands with their hometown head coach.
“We knew it was going to be a young squad coming in this year,” Pickering said. “Obviously some of those games we could have won would be nice to have, that would have relieved some pressure on these young guys. We’re fully supportive of Tad, we know what he’s doing, there is so much potential on this roster.”
The team added two years to Kozun’s contract and have the former Hawk signed until the end of next year. With just two 2004 born players on the roster today, that leaves potentially 23 players to return next year. The board is excited for the growth and pictures brighter days ahead for the club.
“We want to see what Tad can do; this is a small ration of the two full seasons behind the bench. This roster construction is deep, we have a lot of players battling for positions in the lineup. It’s not ideal for 18 year olds to sit out but you must be held accountable, earn your ice time and Tad is making them do that,” he said.
Nipawin’s next action is Saturday at home to Flin Flon. Newcomers Noah Heinrich and Aiden Bruce should be in the lineup.
Also, one of the team’s largest fundraisers has kicked off with their New Year’s Raffle. Contact the club or any board member or player to purchase your tickets for a chance to win over $40,000.
