“It’s been unbelievable,” says head coach/general manager Cody Mapes.
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It looks like the next Weyburn Red Wings’ home game really will be a home game.
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“We’re moving home tomorrow,” Cody Mapes, the SJHL team’s head coach and general manager, said before the Red Wings played host to the Yorkton Terriers on Tuesday at the Southland Co-op Centre in Assiniboia. “We’ll be back home on Thursday against (the) Humboldt (Broncos).”
The Red Wings were forced out of their 64-year-old hockey arena — originally called the Colosseum, now renamed Crescent Point Place — because of two recent ammonia leaks in the ice plant’s one-year-old chiller. Even light exposure to ammonia can cause headaches, sore throats and vision trouble.
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The Red Wings last played in Weyburn on Nov. 16 before four straight road games, but without a place to practise they quickly and temporarily moved 160 kilometres west on Highway 13 into Assiniboia’s two-year-old facility. While the coaches booked motel rooms, Assiniboia’s residents quickly found billets for the players and rearranged the arena’s schedule to accommodate the Red Wings.
“It’s been unbelievable,” said Mapes. “The fact they were able to organize this in six hours, maybe less, was incredible.
“How we’ve been treated since we’ve been here has been even better. Everywhere I’ve gone and everywhere I’ve stopped, people are saying ‘Hello.’ They’re happy to have us and they’re pulling for us in the future. We made a few new fans.”
Dubbed the Assiniboia/Weyburn Red Wings during their stay, with appropriate merchandise, they lost 4-1 to Yorkton on Tuesday. The Red Wings posted a 1-2 record at the Co-op Centre after splitting back-to-back games last weekend against the Kindersley Klippers.
Despite the travails recently facing the Red Wings, they had managed to stay atop the Viterra Division until second-place Yorkton’s victory leapfrogged the visitors into first place. Yorkton has a 17-9-1 record while second-place Weyburn is 16-9-2.
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“We’ve got so many injuries right now, we’re just trying to keep our heads above water here,” said Mapes.
“We’re happy with where we’re at right now. We wanna get through Christmas, get a good break and get a bunch of our guys back January 1. That’ll be huge for us.”
Red Wings forward Ethan Dekay, who had six points in three games, and goalie Angelo Zol, whose 33 saves shut out the Klippers 3-0 on Friday, were among recent winners of the SJHL’s weekly awards.
“I’m so impressed with how our players have had a positive outlook on this,” said Mapes. “They were excited about having new billets and getting to meet new people. And obviously the rink was exciting.
“There’s a lot of things for them to do here, but the attitude of having to get up and move was so good. I couldn’t have asked for a better outlook on it from these guys.”
Despite the welcoming support from Assiniboia and the antiquity of their familiar habitat inside Crescent Point Place, Mapes said his team is truly looking forward to re-settling in Weyburn. Mapes was asked if it would be nice to have a new arena such as 14-year-old Affinity Place, a multi-purpose centre that serves as the home rink for the arch-rival Estevan Bruins.
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“The past few weeks, this is honestly kind of a freak accident,” said Mapes. “The piece of equipment that failed is a year old with a 25-year life span. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment of the longevity of the building just going off of this.
“Obviously you see some of the newer buildings and we’d love to have one of those, but we love our building back at home. It’s been really good to us over the last few years so we have no complaints.”
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