When the calls went out from the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings in their search for a temporary home, the town of Assiniboia was more than willing to help out. Within a few short hours of asking for volunteers to billet the Red Wings for the remainder of December, the community had stepped up.
“We had a very overwhelming response,” said Stephanie Van De Sype. She is the Director of Recreation and Wellness with the Town of Assiniboia. “We had too many billet families, in fact. We ended up turning some down but we really tried to get these kids in a household with families and that has been really cool.”
All of Assiniboia has been rallying around the Red Wings, who have had to relocate for the rest of the month due to issues with the arenas in Weyburn. Since the decision was announced Wednesday that the Red Wings would be playing their final four home games of the calendar year at the Southland Co-op Centre in Assiniboia, the town has been painted red, so to speak.
It is such a good group of kids, and we had a billet event last night, and everyone is thrilled to be welcoming these kids into their home,” VanDeSype continued. “We’re thrilled to have them in our community, and in our rink, and the whole town is bussing It’s going to be some fun hockey to watch.”
This won’t be the first time this season the Red Wings have played in Assiniboia. Back on October 11th, the Red Wings played the Notre Dame Hounds at the Southland Co-op Centre in what was a home game for the Wings. This would come out a 7-1 victory for Weyburn.
“We are definitely hoping for some Red Wings wins,” VanDeSype answered when asked if she would be hoping for similar offensive outputs in each of the four games. “The rink will be loud, it’ll be electric, it’ll be really exciting.”
The team itself is embracing the relocation as well. The team has changed its name on social media to the Assiniboia-Weyburn Red Wings, and players took the time to visit the schools in Assiniboia yesterday. The team isn’t forgetting their fans back in Weyburn, though. They are organizing fan buses for the games tonight and tomorrow against the Kindersley Klippers.
The game tonight will have a slightly later start than normal for a Red Wings game, with the puck dropping at 8:30 p.m. Saturday’s game will have a 6:00 p.m. start.
If you can’t make the trek to Assiniboia to watch the games in person, Dylan Fiessel will have the call on Great Plains Ford Red Wing Radio Country 106.7. The broadcasts will start with the pregame show 15 minutes before the puck drops.