ASSINIBOIA — The Richardson Pioneer Southern Jr. B Rebels are soon heading into the holiday break with increased optimism after the announcement of a new assistant coach, Todd Elik.
Elik moved into the area as he and his wife moved to the family farm.
“Todd brings a wealth of information and hockey knowledge,” Rebels’ spokesperson, Curtis Nelson, said.
“He has played in the NHL and has been a pro hockey head coach. He will be a great asset to our team.”
Elik’s hockey background includes eight years in the National Hockey League, playing 448 games, which included playing with the Great Gretzky himself, and with the LA Kings. In his time with the NHL, Elik scored 110 goals while earning 219 assists. He coached from 1997-2010 in the Professional European Hockey Leagues, serving with Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.
“This increases the optimism for our team and our fans going into the second half of our season,” Nelson spoke of the Jr. Rebels season so far.
“We are a team with younger players and while we have had a slow start, we are gaining ground and picking up the pace.”
The addition of Elik helps reduce the role of Nelson to focus on other areas. Up until this point, Nelson said they were serving in various roles, “by committee,” so Elik’s addition helps.
The Southern Rebels are in the planning stages of the first year of a Christmas party that will include a skate with the Rebels team. They also took part in the Winter Lights Parade in Assiniboia, continuing their community engagement as a thank-you for the support from fans.
Nelson also voiced his pride in how quickly their team and the whole community rallied in a matter of hours to get the Weyburn Red Wings a temporary home to finish out the first half of their SJHL season, as their home arena was closed due to an ammonia leak.
“They practise every day for two hours and they have four games scheduled here in Assiniboia, so they are basically living at the rink. We have worked with Weyburn in the past and this will improve that relationship with their team and the community of Weyburn. Our team was part of that solution to this equation and through everyone’s efforts we had a temporary home available for their team,” affirmed Nelson.
The Rebels moved out of their dressing room temporarily to accommodate the Red Wings. People have responded to this news on social media, jokingly stating that the Red Wings might never want to move back home after being in the Southland Co-op Centre as this state-of-the-art facility offers all the bells and whistles that players and hockey fans could wish for.
Nelson voiced his appreciation and pride in the community saying it was a team effort that helped the Red Wings have a temporary home and he reaffirms that this is one of the things Assiniboia is known for, pulling together when there is a need.
Not only was the hockey community lauding Assiniboia for their efforts, residents say it will be a great addition to the rink being able to experience Jr. A calibre hockey at home.
Rebels fans are equally optimistic about what the new addition to their team will bring.
