SAHA making the most of extended pre-season
By RYAN MCCRACKEN on October 2, 2020.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken South Alberta Hockey Academy may not know exactly when the puck will drop on its first game in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, but things are still shaping up nicely for the freshly formed AAA prep program. Practices for the boys and girls prep teams are taking place daily at the Family Leisure Centre with the hope that exhibition play can begin as early as mid-October. The waiting period essentially serves as a prolonged pre-season, and male U18 prep head coach Brayden Desjardins says it’s been favouring the new program nicely. “This is the first time I’ve ever got to coach a team where we have a little bit of time before the season to really work through some things and develop something to be ready for a season,” said Desjardins. “Right now we’re just focusing in on it one day at a time and we’re taking it one practice at a time. It’s been a little bit challenging but the guys have kind of focused and realized this is all they can do for their development right now and they’re really embracing this whole thing… We’ve treated this like a training block to see what we can really do in this short period of time to get ready for a season.” With so much up in the air – both for the CSSHL and other leagues like the Western Hockey League – Desjardins says he’s yet to finalize a roster, but plans to cement his group over the next few weeks. Desjardins added SAHA has made a priority out of giving local players their chance to shine at a AAA level, but they haven’t shied away from out-of-town talent. “That was one of our objectives when we started. We definitely wanted to bring AAA hockey back to Medicine Hat and give guys an opportunity to showcase their abilities. We have quite a few local guys, but we definitely have some outsourced talent. We have a kid from Grande Prairie, Tanner Nyland, he played in Banff last year. Cayden Glover is from Brandon, he’s a Tiger prospect. We definitely have talent from all over Canada, but we definitely made it a priority to give our locals a chance to show what they can do.” SAHA founder Willie Desjardins says education is a big part of SAHA’s mission as well, and one that has been going smoothly thanks to the work of its staff. “We’re really fortunate with the connections with the school,” said Willie. “Reagan Weeks has been outstanding, she’s the president of the organization and does a great job just managing everything. Darren MacMillan is the general manager and he’s put lots of time in behind the scenes to get the team and he’s worked really hard at setting things up. The school is really important to us and he’s a great liaison with the school.” Willie added he believes the CSSHL will likely get the green light ahead of the WHL, but there are still plenty of spinning plates that need to settle before an official start date can be determined. “I assume that they’re going to be able to go maybe ahead of certainly the Western League. We’re hoping maybe October-November maybe they’ll start up and play,” he said. “They’ve been talking about the different possibilities but it’s the same as other leagues, you’re waiting for health authorities to clear you. And it’s a tough position for the health authorities, they’re not in an easy spot. They have lots of pressure for lots of different things. It’s one of those where it’s kind of new territory. We have to be patient, but at the same time we have to be ready if we get the good word.” Whenever that good word comes, SAHA will be fired up and ready. It’ll be exciting when they get to play,” said Willie. “I’m excited about the coaches, I’m excited about the staff. I think all we need now is games.” The News reached out to SAHA U18 girls prep head coach Evan Vossen for comment on the program but did not receive a response by press time. 14-13
