Members of a hockey association in northwest Calgary fear they may have played their last games as they claim the governing body of the league is looking at a plan to break up the community.
The Northwest Warriors say they are victims of Hockey Calgary’s plans to redraw the boundaries after they were told the association will be merging with neighbouring clubs.
Danielle Melnyk, an avid hockey mom who is also involved in different team initiatives, says everyone will lose a lot if the team disappears.
“If the Warriors were to disband, you’re taking away an entire community, an entire family. It’s so much more than hockey. You gain so much from this sport, but you also play for the logo on the front, not the name on the back. If you lose that, it would be devastating.”
She believes they’re being targeted because of how much ice time they have available and Hockey Calgary’s brass wants to capitalize on their surplus.
“I know that our association has a lot of ice in it, but we’ve done what’s right. We share ice time with our neighbouring associations and we are not being treated fairly because of it.”
Melnyk says she would like to see a vote take place so the whole community can decide what happens.
“Hockey Calgary is a community-driven, volunteer organization. What we wanna know and what we wanna understand is how we can wake up to the news that our association can possibly be disbanded.”
Meanwhile, Hockey Calgary says nothing is written in stone yet.
“There has been no announcement as of yet and people are reacting on rumours,” said executive director Kevin Kobelka in a statement to CTV. “We are meeting with all presidents on Monday night to announce our plans.”
Even if it was their last game on Sunday, the Warriors ended it on a win, taking the Atom 5 Division Championship.
(With files from Kevin Green)
