Local businessman Alex Halat would like to see an Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) team move to Chestermere.
“What the town is missing, in terms of a sports aspect, is…a junior hockey team,” he said.
To this end Halat and a group of other like-minded businessmen worked with the AJHL to bring an exhibition pre-season game to Chestermere.
The Calgary Canucks defeated the Canmore Eagles10-1 in split squad action at the Chestermere Recreation Centre Sept. 8.
The group had to bring in extra bleachers to accommodate the crowd for the game.
“The local support is there,” said Halat.
“We want to show the AJHL that our little community is eager to…host a team down the road,” he said.
They are also starting to see a swell of support from business interests and the city for a team.
He believes that a junior hockey team would provide economic stimulus and fill the current void of spectator sports in the city.
A team would also provide additional support for not-for-profits in Chestermere through the sale of 50/50 tickets. Synergy volunteers worked Thursday’s game with that organization receiving the funds from the 50/50 draw.
“All the funds go back into the community and gets reinvested back into the kids,” he said.
Halat is an AJHL alumnus. He played for three years before moving on to university on a scholarship.
“The hockey is going to be amazing,” said Halat of the quality of the AJHL.
“Call me biased…I played AJHL hockey,” laughed Halat, “I like to think it’s good hockey.”
According to Halat, several NHL and university scouts were in attendance at the game.
“The beauty of this, it’s a stepping stone for kids,” he said.
“My focus in AJHL is to get kids onto university,” he said, “There’s enough local kids within our community that can aspire to be junior A players.”
The next step for the group include reaching out, possibly with an online survey, to the people in attendance at the game to get their ideas and feedback.
“Everything from the costs of the tickets to what did you like about the game…to what type of mascot would you want to see,” he said.
No commitments have been made by the group, the AJHL or the recreation centre around the move of a team to Chestermere.
The recreation centre was happy to host the game.
“We’re excited to have roughly between 600 and 700 fans in the stands,” said Chestermere Regional Community Association General Manager Jody Nouwen.
She said that the recreation centre is open to negotiating with an AJHL team to use the recreation centre as its home ice while still protecting current users of the facility.
The Eagles vs Canucks game was a first step to gauge the interest of the community.
“We’ll probably do it again, we’ll do another game,” said Halat, “Can we do this twice in a row and get the same response?”
He hopes that they will be able to intrigue the AJHL enough to potentially move a team to the city in the future.
If they are successful in bringing a team to Chestermere it won’t happen for a few years said Halat.
“In two years or five years hopefully this all pans out,” he said.
