Our team’s players, coaches, and parents will be respectful to other teams, each other, and the referees. Our program is setup to work as a team while focusing on the individual’s development. Teamwork and supporting each other is critical to having each team pull in the same direction. Responsibility is critical to allowing young athletes to be more mature and take ownership of their own development.
As a privately-operated program last spring, this winter, and this current spring season we see the value in allowing core groups of players and their families to stay together. We believe kids develop better as hockey players both on the ice and off the ice when they are with their friends. The development model that the HSL has provided and matured since its inception makes the strongest case for long term development.
The Vikings are aligned with the model that promotes a healthy balance of professional development, team practices, off-ice training, and a reasonable number of games being played.
Allowing teams to do professional development together provides a deliberate focus on these areas. Being in the HSL allows us to hand-pick the development partners that work best with the kids at the stage they are at. The HSL model demonstrates a commitment to modern hockey development.
We started in 2021 as a spring hockey team out of Strathcona County. We operated as a 2022 spring hockey team the following year, eventually going to 2 travel tournaments in Winnipeg and Vancouver. We were accepted into Hockey Super League (HSL) for the 2022-23 Season.
We played our first ever game in Penhold, AB against the Red Deer Rustlers.
There were 3 teams: Ice Crushers, Fort McMurray Mountaineers, and ourselves. We got our first win in the semi-finals against the Ice Crushers, but fell to the Mountaineers in the finals.
A field that included the Young Guns and the Thunder.
Hosted in Sylvan Lake, we were able to make it to the Finals but were taken down by the Red Deer Rustlers. Other teams included Strathmore and Sylvan Lake.
As an entire 2014 Team we competed against some of the best 2013 PHL / Development Teams including: Lethbridge Mustangs, Riggers, Airdrie Stars, and South Sask Academy.