The Weyburn Red Wings will be celebrating their 50th anniversary season during the SJHL's 2010-11 hockey season. With a coaching staff consisting of Dwight McMillan, Ron Rumball and Darcy Pindus the trio has a total of 92 years coaching experience under their collective belts.Rumball has been with the team since it was the Junior "B" Red Wings, which came from Lashburn. The next two years after moving the club from Lashburn to Weyburn produced two Junior "B" championships in a row, starting Weyburn's illustrious hockey dynasty in Saskatchewan.
General Manager Ron Rumball proudly stated that with the dedication of many fine hockey scouts, managers, coaches, staff and executives over the past 50 years Weyburn has produced one of the finest places to play hockey in North America.
"We've traveled from Summerside, P.E.I., Nanaimo, B.C. and even chased the cup as far north as Flin Flon, Manitoba and destinations in between," Rumball said.The Wings have just concluded one of their smallest but quality fall camps in quite some time, according to Rumball.
"We've had some of the highest calibre players come through our doors this fall and it's made it difficult for the scouting team and coaching staff to make their choices in five short days," Rumball said.The G.M. said that the players are fast and a nice size for this brand of hockey and they have found many quality players for all the positions they've been looking to fill.With the camp practice and drill sessions being completed, the coaches were looking forward to the annual Red and White game, which took place on September 6 in front of a couple hundred die-hard Red Wing fans. Many players and their parents traveled from as far away as Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Nashville, Tennessee, Montreal, Quebec, Winnipeg, Manitoba and even as close as Estevan to try and claim a spot on the Wings roster for the 2010-11 season.
The White team managed a slim-margin win in a shoot-out as both the Red and White teams managed to knot the game up with a 5-5 tie due to some superb coaching from both benches."You can feel the excitement building in the air," Coach Dwight McMillan said about theupcoming season. "The phones are starting to ring all day long from those interested in playing in Weyburn and calls from coaches from other teams looking for a certain player or skill-set."The Red Wing staff said that they are set and most of the inventory that is needed to run a Junior "A" hockey club is in place, which includes hundreds of sticks and miles of tape and bandages to keep a team on its skates.McMillan reminisced about those who have graced the halls of the Red Wings dressing room over the years and fondly remembered those who have come to Weyburn to play hockey and stayed to start and raise a family of their own.
"We've seen many faces and characters come and go and each one helps build the persona of the Wings family tree over the past 50 years," McMillan said.
While some of the faces and the names blur from year-to-year there are those McMillan can recall as if it were only yesterday."Some of the players billeted to families in Weyburn are like family members themselves and continue to keep in contact over the years, which adds to the unique atmosphere of being part of a community-run hockey team," McMillan said.Co-coach Darcy Pindus is equally excited about getting this year's team on the ice and getting started. Pindus, who played for the Wings in 1980-82 seasons, has 14 years of coaching under his belt and said he loves this time of year. "You can feel the excitement growing around the community and pretty soon the arena will be packed with loyal Red Wing fans, who will be cheering on their favourite local hockey team," Pindus said. "It's a great feeling to be part of this hockey organization and I'll be happier when the team hits the ice for this historic season."The Wings will have opened up their pre-season games starting with home games against the Estevan Bruins September 7 and 8, then the Notre Dame Hounds on Saturday, September11.The Briercrest Clippers will travel to the Crescent Point Place on Monday, September 13, for a 7:30 p.m. start and the pre-season will close with the Wings travelling to take on the Hounds on Tuesday, September 14. For more hockey and ticket information visit the Wings website.
