Sturgeon Hockey Club expands programs despite arena challenges 

by Stephen Dafoe  

Despite some initial ice scheduling challenges, Sturgeon Hockey Club (SHC) is gearing up for exciting changes and growth with their Sting AA program changing leagues and their Fillies female program continuing to grow. 

“This season, our four Sting AA teams will be part of the Alberta Elite Hockey League (AEHL) run by Hockey Alberta, which will streamline all levels of elite hockey (AA and AAA) in the province,” said SHC Communications Director Vikki McLaren in an email interview with MorinvilleNews.com. “Our Fillies program has seen exponential growth in its first three years of existence. Two seasons ago, we had one Fillies team at the U15 level.  Last year, we had four teams at the U11, U13, U15 and U18 levels.  Now for this season, we are very excited to add an additional U11 team to the mix and our first-ever U9 Fillies team to Sturgeon Hockey Club.”   

McLaren said SHC’s Mustang players could also look forward to another exciting year of competitive hockey within the Edmonton Federation Hockey League.  However, with the loss of the Legal Arena due to a significant renovation and expansion project, practices and games will occur at several arenas in the region.  

“We have been fortunate enough to work with the communities of Rich Valley, Onoway, Redwater and the Edmonton Garrison in securing ice at their facilities, which allowed us to register every family looking to play for SHC this season and not have to turn any child away,” McLaren said. ”We can’t thank these communities enough for their support.” 

Before the SHC season gets fully underway, the Association is hosting one of the Edmonton Oil Kings pre-season games at the Morinville Leisure Centre on Saturday, Sept 14 at 4 p.m. Tickets for the fundraiser sold out within hours on Thursday when they were released. A 50/50 will be available to the public with details announced on SHC’s Facebook page.