“Put a hundred more fans in that rink, which is easy to do, we don’t have that deficit. Two hundred fans, now we have a forty thousand dollar surplus.”

President of the Weyburn Red Wings, Brent Stephanson described what is needed for the team to end up back in the black, after a $41,000 deficit was posted by the Junior A hockey team last season. The number was revealed at the team’s annual general meeting Thursday night. The biggest driver of the loss was the team seeing a $32,000 drop in revenue during the regular season, primarily through attendance at the games.

There were some other areas for the team which also saw drops in revenue and profit. The sports dinner was down this past year, primarily due to money raised during the auction of sports memorabilia being down compared to previous years. The team was helped immensely, though, by the Montreal Canadiens alumni game.

The team will be looking to increase their season ticket numbers, with a drive starting once a marketing and office manager is in place. Last season, there were 413 season ticket holders, and the hope is to see the numbers increase this season.

Stephanson said coming out and supporting the team, and welcoming the players into the community has a long-term benefit for Weyburn as a whole.

“All these young guys, that are actually still in the community with families and businesses that have helped grow our city, that were once Red Wings, and are now part of the culture of our city,” Stephanson said after the meeting.

Helping to get the players out in the community will be a set number of volunteer hours for the players. Head coach Wes Rudy and Stephanson set the number of 30 volunteer hours per player over the course of the season.

To help generate the buzz around the team heading into the regular season, with the goal of increasing ticket sales, the crowd at the AGM discussed the return of the Booster Club.

“We’re going to have a meeting after our Red and White game on September 3rd, just to create a culture of fun, you know, make it enjoyable to come to the rink, to be invested in the team,” Stephanson said.

The Red Wings will be gearing up for their season with the opening of training camp on September 1st. The Wings will then open the regular season against Yorkton on September 14th.