Meadow Lake Mustangs Junior A team collapses

“We worked really hard, lots of volunteers worked very hard and the owners put a lot of money into it and it just didn’t work out,” he said.

A tough weekend for the Mustangs presented a loss of six players. Four were suspended and two were injured.

“Over the weekend we lost six players and five no-shows which leaves us with not enough players to continue,” he said. “We tried really hard and hung in there as long as we could and we feel badly.”

The Mustangs faced a shortage on Friday night with only nine players left on the ice. The announcement came to the team on Saturday night with only one minute left in the game.

Winkler said the announcement was not a surprise to players. He said he asked for the team’s commitment before the Christmas break though faced inconsistent turnout at games.

“Students are finishing up their semester here and then will decide where they want to go and what they want to do. Some of them are looking at other teams,” Winkler said. “They can play in the Western States Hockey League and there’s a couple of teams looking for players, so they have opportunities there, whether they want to relocate and pursue their hockey is really up to them.”

Winkler said they were close to making the team work. Nearly 30 parents and volunteers assumed roles at games and supported the players.

The Mustang’s GM tried to find a silver lining in the teams’s disband saying Chase Caron played his 70^th game on Saturday.

“There are a lot of good stories and the players had a lot of fun. They have a sense of loss and a sense of regret, as we all do,” Winkler said. “It’s not fun putting in work and seeing it not turn out.”

Winkler added he faced additional challenges attracting European players to Meadow Lake. He said attempts were made to attract two European coaches to the area though international working visa’s were alleged to be a factor in the lack of European presence.

“We did our best and we had a lot of support from the community and regretfully, this model did not work,” he said.

Winkler said it could be years before Meadow Lake sees another junior hockey team.

“SHA would have to take a look whether they would allow us to have a Double A or a Triple A or a junior team or a higher level of minor hockey in Meadow Lake,” he said. “When we see them closing Duck Lake Triple A Midget hockey is a very expensive sport and the senior team has to work so hard to stay alive.”

The Meadow Lake Mustangs GM said refunds will be issued to anyone who has purchased advance tickets or season passes.

Ugly incident off-ice

Meanwhile there was an unsavoury incident in the stands during the game. Video has emerged of what appears to show a Hinton coach swinging a stick at an abusive fan. Winkler acknowledged it wasn’t nice but played it down, suggesting it was an isolated incident.

“There was a fan that crossed a line and was upset with some of the behaviour on the bench and he went and told them and whatever…there’s lots of video tapes out there, ” he said. ” I appreciate the fact that several people stepped up to calm things down and help out. It looks like there was a crowd but there was one guy and the rest of the crowd was trying to subdue him and calm him down.”

Winkler suggested the Meadow Lake crowd isn’t aggressive in nature but admitted “…it happened and it didn’t flatter us. It doesn’t look good and we regret that happened.”

Editor’s note: this story was amended to include Winkler’s comments on the incident involving the Hinton bench and the fan.

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722

by Nicole Reis

Meadow Lake Mustangs Junior A team collapses

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