The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings held their AGM last night in the conference room at the Ramada by Wyndham, reflecting on last years success and planning for the upcoming year. The meeting started off with Mayor Jeff Richards providing opening remarks, including a review of last years minutes and an overview of the agenda.
After that, members in good standing took a vote as six slots on the board of directors needed to be filled and there were seven eligible candidates. After that, Head Coach and GM, Cody Mapes took the podium to talk about last season and the success the team had both on the ice and off of it and thank all who made that possible.
After that, sales and marketing director, Ryder Burns talked about the first full season that was for him and how the Red Wings did with things like sponsorships, attendance, season ticket sales, and fundraising efforts such as 50/50’s. The Red Wings brought in over 19,000 fans and averaged just over 750 fans per game throughout the year. That number shot up in the playoffs with an average of over 1400 and another 11,267 recorded in attendance during the eight home playoff games.
The success of a deep postseason run was incredibly beneficial for the Red Wings, as Marc Henderson from MNP Financial Group then took the podium to provide financial statements from last season compared to the year prior. The Red Wings had brought in over $1.5 million worth of value, a nearly $400,000 increase from last years $1.1 million including over $118,000 in revenue gained during the regular season and over $156,000 in the playoffs. Take-home profit for the team was $106,000, an increase of nearly $60,000 from the year before. Big 50/50 ticket sales and increased attendance for the Red Wings in the postseason was the main contributor for that increase.
The Red Wings voted in six new people who will be joining the board members on a two-year term. That includes Stacey Atkinson, Warren Douglas, Tyler Istace, Sandy McCormick, Cory Pompu, and Chad Ror.
The team had huge amounts of success off the ice this year thanks to their on ice product. The Red Wings had seven players commit to playing collegiate level hockey for the upcoming season, including Max Chakrabarti with a NCAA D1 commitment to Augustana University. Mapes says that high-caliber product on the ice, translates to team success off of it.
“I'm pretty proud of the last four years. You know, we've been profitable every year and this year being the biggest one. So, you know we want to continue that, we want to sustain what we have and continue to add where players want to be here and like I said during my talk we had players that could’ve left throughout the year and chose to stay so we're pretty happy with that.”
The excitement for the on-ice product can’t help but draw fans to the seats at Crescent Point Place. Once inside the doors, the gameday experience is the main part of Ryder Burns’ time come gametime. With a small army of volunteers and help, they provide the rest of the gameday experience, such as 50/50’s and other fundraising events. Burns talks about his first full year with the Red Wings and the excitement level heading into the 2025-2026 season.
“Just kind of excitement moving forward. You know everyone that was here was excited to you know, run it back next year, look for that long playoff push, support the team. You know, all these people that are here they're huge supporters answering they're out here. So it's nice to see everyone out and be excited.” Burns continues on what he learned from his first full year as a sales and marketing director. “I think one of the most important things is, you know, you don't have to do it all yourself. You know, if you're struggling or you have questions, you can always reach out, especially with our board. They're always there to help and they want what's best for the team. So if you, if you have questions, you know, you can always go to them. I learned that throughout the year as it went on, you know, when I started I wanted to show my best work and try to do it all myself. But, you realize it's a lot of work so you can't do everything yourself. So it's nice to have that support and I definitely learned that.”
Burns said for fans eager to get the season underway to come out and celebrate. There will be a home opener celebration much like they had last season. As well, there will be a banner ceremony as the Red Wings will be hanging brand new Viterra Division winner and SJHL Finalist banners up at Crescent Point Place. The Red Wings start the season on Friday, September 19th, when they host the Yorkton Terriers.