Red Deer Minor Hockey celebrated the conclusion of the 2024-25 season with a year-end barbecue this week.
The event, held at the Pidherney Centre, was attended by more than 1,300 people. It featured a dinner and recognized the efforts of local hockey players, coaches, team managers, Red Deer Minor Hockey executives, and officials.
This season saw five Red Deer Minor Hockey teams win provincial championships. Additionally, there were eight teams crowned league champions.
Several players within Red Deer Minor Hockey were recognized with individual league awards as well, including Madden Daneault, who was named a U15 First Team All Star, playoff MVP and top scorer. His teammate, Cruz Nicolay, was named a U15 Second Team All-Star.
Some other individual league award recipients were U18 First Team All StarKohen Lodge; AFHL U13 AA South Most Valuable Player, Top Scorer and Top Forward Kilynn Soloway; and AFHL U15 AA Most Valuable Player and Top Scorer Reece Lacina.
"To have as many award winners as we did at the (Alberta Elite Hockey League) and (Alberta Female Hockey League) level, definitely made this a landmark year for the association. It's great to see those kids being recognized," said Jason Stephens, Red Deer Minor Hockey general manager.
Twenty different players received the Chief Award during the event as well. Seventy players were nominated for this award, noted Stephens.
"The coaches nominate kids from their teams who exemplify what it means to be a Chief. It's an incredible award. There were 70 kids deserving of that award," he said.
Eight scholarship recipients were recognized at the year-end barbecue: Tate Bowers, Ethan Clark, Caelan Empey, Brody Erickson, Raya Hastings, Jayden Olafson, Addison Spielman and Presley Zinger.
Four referees were acknowledged at the event as well: Brody Foote, Braden Fuller, Sydney Buckland and Aaron Kindopp. Parker Bettenson and Dave Soloway were recognized for their coaching efforts this year, and Deanna Spielman and Alyson McColl were recognized for their work as team managers.
Red Deer Minor Hockey past president Al Sim was also honoured at the event.
"Al is the embodiment of what a Chief is, through all the leadership he provided in decades with Red Deer Minor Hockey. It was great to be able to recognize him and the legacy he created. Hopefully he feels he's left it in good hands moving forward," said Stephens.
This was Stephens first year as Red Deer Minor Hockey's general manager.
"For me, this year was a period where I was figuring things out. The biggest takeaway for me is how amazing the hockey community is here. They rally around each other to get things done. We've had lots of initiatives this year where we needed volunteers, and people always stepped up," he said.
"We were down two arenas at the start of the year. The way the office staff, our board and the teams worked together was something I won't forget. There was an understanding from everybody and they were more interested in finding out how to fix things and work together to make sure everyone is treated fairly."
