OLDS — The Olds Grizzlys ownership group has “made some mistakes” over the past five years or so, but they’ve learned from them and the team is heading in the right direction, president Josh Erdman says.
Erdman made that point in a speech during the Grizzlys’ season-ending banquet Feb. 27 at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #105.
The team finished the season in last place in the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s eight-team Viterra South Division with a 9-45-6 record for 24 points in 60 games.
Erdman noted he’s one of several former Grizzlys who stepped in to take ownership of the team after the former ownership indicated interest in moving the team out of town about five years ago.
Owning and running the team has not been easy. It’s been a tough learning curve, Erdman indicated.
“We got involved financially – a little bit at first to keep the team around and then we were figuring out how to run the team, which has been a big struggle," he said.
“We’re all old hockey players pretty much involved with the ownership group, and playing is a lot easier than it is trying to organize it. We’ve made some mistakes, for sure, but I think we’ve learned from them.”
Erdman said ownership has made some smart moves too.
One, he said, was hiring head coach Scott Atkinson and keeping assistant coach Pete DeGraaf and others on board.
“Scott is one of the most honourable men I’ve ever met. He does care -- not only (about) the Grizzlys. He pours his heart and soul in helping people find their potential and caring about the community,” Erdman said.
“He affects every individual he comes into contact with, giving insight into how to reach your potential as well as how to promote greatness around you. A true scholar of the game; I appreciate the determination and mentorship.”
Erdman thanked the team’s sponsors for sticking with the club through some lean years and said several new sponsors have come on board because they believe the club is on the verge of being successful on-ice.
“We can’t show you enough gratitude, so thank you for that,” he said.
Erdman also paid tribute to the Grizzlys’ scouting staff.
"It’s been a difficult job finding players when players and families have so many options to play at different places and very many different, interesting ways to entice players to come play there," he said. “We’re trying to play within the boundaries, so it’s a little tougher for us.”
Erdman also praised the volunteers who’d helped the club over the years, including billet coordinator Cindy Tookey, Booster Club president Julie Johnston, and club secretary-treasurer Nikki Grover.
“Cindy Tookey’s working relentlessly to find guys healthy caring billets to open their homes and take on 16 to 18-year-old young athletes who eat a lot of food and have a lot of other things going on in their lives. I know I’ve got one at home,” he said.
Johnston helps organize events for the club and arranges meals for the team on the road and was instrumental in creating the Booster Club, he said.
Grover not only sits on the Olds Grizzlys board of directors but also the Olds Minor Hockey board, he said.
“She must operate on a different clock than the rest of the world because she's always got time,” he said.
Erdman also thanked the club’s team doctors for keeping players as healthy as possible and its accountant for keeping the books.
“It’s been a tough road, but in the last five years I’ve been involved in the inner workings of junior hockey and the 20-ish years I’ve played elite hockey, I’ve never felt more effort put into a team,” he said.
