So when the Saskatchewan provincial government announced Friday that it would be giving $600,000 to each of the five WHL teams in the province in addition to $1 million to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, you can bet the local squad was more than happy to hear the announcement.
“We can’t thank Premier Moe and Minister Harrison and their people enough for the work they’ve down with our league office in terms of providing funding for junior hockey in our province,” said Warriors general manager Alan Millar. “I think when you consider where the WHL is at and where our team is at, the expenses of trying to put a season together without fans this year and taking into consideration our losses over the last 10 months, this is outstanding support and great for our franchise.”
At their most recent annual general meeting back in September, the team revealed they carried a bank balance of $610,653 and the education fund sat at $154,167. The latter received a significant boost from the recently completed Hockey Harvest Lottery, which brought in $37,073 through a province-wide 50-50 draw.
Other than that successful event, there has been little good news on the financial front.
“We’re close to losing upwards of $300,000 to date this year, and a big part of that is we haven’t been able to generate any revenue with no games, no ticket sales, no corporate support,” Millar said. “I think when you look at this funding, I don’t think it’s earmarked for anything other than the fact there has been an economic impact on the team with significant losses over the last 10 months.”
Normally by this time, the Warriors would have revenue from around 20 home games to draw from, as well as their other fundraising ventures including the wildly popular Alumni Golf Tournament. With none of that happening and the franchise continuing to run in a pared-down fashion, the financial drain has become very real.
Throwing over half a million dollars into the mix will make all the difference, especially when it comes to returning to play.
“We are trying to put together a season without fans, which will be an expense for all the teams, and we carry significant liability in terms of our player scholarship fund and that is something we haven’t been able to fundraise this past summer with our annual golf tournament,” Millar said. The team paid out close to $100,000 in scholarship funds to former players last year alone. “That’s the most important thing we do for our players, is provide them with a full education if they don’t play professional hockey.
“So when you look at the funding we’re getting, it helps the team not only this season, but moving forward and I think as we try to play this year, this doesn’t cripple the franchise.”
The WHL is aiming to play a 24-game season beginning in late February or early March, with no official start date announced as of yet.
