By Kristi Patton /
If there is one thing that is guaranteed in this season’s Western Women’s Hockey League, it’s that the Calgary X-Treme will not take their usual spot in the finals.
Facing cut-backs, the University of Calgary Oval program dropped its hockey excellence initiative leaving the X-Treme without funding.
“They turned over ownership and the franchise to me and a few former players in an attempt to keep it going,” said owner Bob Hall. “The Oval program took a big hit with cutbacks and there is no funding left over from last year so we are starting at square one here. We have a long road to haul.”
But it’s not only funding the X-treme lost, but with it being an Olympic year, eight of their top players are committed to Hockey Canada.
“We are hoping that those players will want to come back to a similar program of excellence that we are looking to start. As of right now, we have had some communication through email with those players but have had no response from them, we are a bit disappointed but hope they are just busy with their commitment of being centralized with the Olympic program.”
Hall explained that the new owners are in a process of searching for sponsors and former sponsors of the X-treme to help create a similar program to what they previously had. The team is also scrambling for players because of the loss of so many players to the Olympic program. This season, if they can get enough players to create a full roster, the X-Treme will give up its crown as a regular in the WWHL finals and be reduced to an exhibition team with hopes of making a full return for the 2010/11 season. The team is also looking for a new home, having lost the luxury of playing at the the Olympic Oval ice surface.
“The X-Treme is still very much in support of this league and we feel they have contributed significantly to the success of the league over the years. We don’t want to see it fall apart but it is a bit of a struggle this year,” said Hall.
Last year, the B.C. Breakers dropped out of the league a little over part-way through the season because of financial difficulties and have not returned this year. The Edmonton Chimos have also seen ownership changes but will continue as a regular player in the WWHL this season. Most of their games are expected to be played in outreach centres such as Fort Saskatchewan, Beaumont, Thorsby, Smoky Lake and Bruderheim. The Strathmore Rockies and Whitecaps will also continue as one of the three full-time members of the WWHL.
Changes have also been made on the board of directors with long-time female hockey contributor Byron Stephens taking the helm as chairman. Having only come on board in early September, he said there is much work to be done to get caught up to speed.
“We will take this a step at a time. We want to make sure we do a good job at getting this league rolling again and slowly building it from there,” he said. “Basically, we are trying to get things together and figure out where we are with everything. We are looking at long range planning for the league, so there will be a strong future and not just going season-by-season.”
A release sent out by the WWHL said they will commence their season in November, with a mandated league break for the 2010 Olympics and end their year in March. Officials with the WWHL also said they will culminate their season with the Clarkson Cup, the National Championship of women’s hockey — where the strongest team from the WWHL faces the best from the CWHL in the east. Last year, the Whitecaps met the CWHL Montreal Stars in the inaugural final losing 3-1. |