Joel Romano, captain of the Agra Risk Wheatland Kings, is moving on from the Strathmore hockey team.
According to the Heritage Junior Hockey League, players are not allowed to be older than 21-years-old. Because of this, Romano and three other players will be leaving the team.
Romano was raised in Chestermere and began skating at the age of two. He played four seasons with the Kings, spending the last two as captain.
"I would describe it as a lot of ups and downs. I feel like in the end it all just turned out how it was supposed to be, and I grew into the person I needed to be. It came with a lot of lessons and turning points in our seasons."
The Kings had a historic year, making it farther into playoffs than ever before. Unfortunately, the local team was defeated by the Medicine Hat Cubs in game four of the HJHL playoff semifinals.
"I'm really proud of the guys. I feel like everyone started to come together towards the end of the season," added Romano. "I really felt a big buy in from all areas of the team, from first line to fourth line."
"I wish the outcome would have been a little different, but I'm really proud for how we did."
As for what comes next, Romano has been considering taking a route with the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
"I'm really just trying to figure out what my next options would be with schooling and looking at hockey options from that."
Romano is going to college for a general science degree in the hopes of joining chiropractic therapy or osteopathy.
Other players leaving the team include Tegan Skehar, Lachlan Stewart, and Kobe Gosling.