The Richardson Pioneer Red Wings prepare for back-to-back home games this weekend at Crescent Point Place.
The opening of the season has been up and down for the Red Wings, but there is optimism that the team will find a place this year in the playoffs. Voice of the Red Wings, Nick Neilsen shares, “Well, I'll tell you this much we have an absolutely awesome group of guys to be at the rink with every single day. I think the record overall maybe not be exactly what the Red Wings were hoping for seven and ten and one throughout the beginning of the season here. But you know what? This is a team that's got a lot of talent. They're a lot of fun to watch.”
Local fans haven’t had a chance to see the Red Wings at home as much during this first portion of the season, however, we are heading into a stretch of games at home says Nielsen, “We've got a lot of home games coming up. That's been the tough part, for the Red Wings through the start of this season, we haven't had a lot of home games, and now November/December we're going to have seven of them in a row, so we're pretty excited to have that opportunity to play some games at home for once and we're pretty excited about the group that we have because there are a lot of really great pieces that have been coming in and helping this team get back to what we're looking for here and possibly winning the division by the end of the season.”
This weekend fans will be treated to two of the best opponents in the league, which will make for some exciting hockey explains Nielsen, “We have lots of stuff going on this weekend here and it's a couple of really tough matchups. We haven't seen the Humboldt Broncos yet and they're one of the best teams in the league and have only lost three games so far this season then on Saturday the team plays the Battlefords North Stars who haven't lost in regulation yet this year, so a couple of really tough challenges. We've played the North Stars a couple of times this season and we played them pretty close in a couple of games so we're looking forward to putting forward a big effort there.”
Fans will be set up for two nights of fast-paced play and a few extra events surrounding the games. Friday night the Red Wings support Kidsport and Saturday they celebrate local farmers shares Neilsen, “We've got some fun stuff going on here. Friday is our Kidsport night, so there's going to be a big chuck-a-puck going on here and some mini-games and stuff like that in the intermissions. We're also going to be honoring our volunteer of the year award as well during our Kidsport night on Friday. On Saturday, is our appreciation night for our Field of Dreams farmers who did all the work to seed, spray and harvest our field that we put together throughout the summer, so we're going to treat them to supper and have a little ceremony to say thank you to all of them. So, it's a busy weekend for us with a couple of tough games, but a lot of fun stuff that we're going to have in the rink.”
Doors open up at 6:00 P.M. at the Crescent Point Place for both Friday and Saturday night’s game.