The Westman High School Hockey League will expand this upcoming season as the league will now have 18 teams.
The brand new teams to join the league are as followed:
- Swan River
- Gilbert Plains/Grandview/Roblin
- Ste.Rose/McCreary/Glenella
- Sandy Bay
Rivers/Elton/Melita will also rejoin the WHSHL after taking a hiatus.
"We have two meetings a year, and this was in our meeting in April," said Jason Alf, Co-President of the WHSHL. "We were approached by teams that wanted to join, we gave them criteria and information that we wanted them to come to us with. We didn't just want them in for one year, we wanted them to commit."
The big question with the expansion was how would the addition of teams to the WHSHL affect Midget and AAA hockey in the Parkland, and as Alf notes, it's hard to say at this point.
"It's really hard to say, we don't know what those teams plans are," said Alf. There has always been competition for players but this just gives them another option if they don't want to go the AAA route. If the kids want to go to AAA, they still will but for the kids that want to go to AAA, but don't make the team, this will be a good option for them."
Last year in the WHSHL, each team played a home and home with another team, but with the addition of these teams, that will not be possible.
Alf mentions that they will sit down and decide whether they want two or three divisions and then they will go from there, but he is excited for the additions, and upcoming season.
"We're looking forward to this," said Alf. A lot of programs are starting to end because lack of players. In the long run, we wanted to set up a place for these kids to play, so they didn't have to move because that isn't easy, even if it's just school to school. This is a great option now for kids who are looking to play some competitive hockey."
