Back in October it was announced that the Kindersley Jr. Klippers and Melfort Mustangs would be battling for the "Fouillards Cup".

With Fouillards Floors & More locations in each Saskatchewan town, and the background of being long-time sponsors of their local junior hockey teams, the idea of a head-to-head trophy was a no brainer for Dustin in Melfort and Ethan in Kindersley.

The season series kicked off on October 15th in Kindersley when the Klippers beat the Mustangs 7-4 to take an early series lead. The teams would not see each other for a few months until a February 5th matchup in Kindersley, where the Klippers took a 5-2 victory to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.

After a ten-day hiatus the series shifted to Melfort last night, where the Mustangs won big 6-2 to climb back into things. The fourth and final game is coming up in Melfort on Wednesday, March 1st.

Find links to all of those game recaps above, as we checked in with Fouillards Floors & More owner Ethan Wigley.

"The whole thing is just really cool. Hockey has been my entire life. I played junior in the SJHL, and it's just really cool to be a part of it again you know?"

The whole idea came out of a day at work visiting the West Central Events Centre installing some rubber flooring. Wigley and Klippers Governor Kyle Adamson got talking, and Adamson pitched the idea of reviving a rivalry series that existed some years back between Kindersley and North Battleford involving local businesses.

"Kyle was like, 'I have an idea', and he just spit it out."

With local businesses in both Kindersley and Melfort getting on board, the "Fouillards Cup" was born.

IMG_4997_0.JPG The local business out of Kindersley was eager to get in on the action of a rivalry series against Melfort

While Wigley is associated with the Klippers in this competition, he does have quite the connection to the other side.

"I used to play junior hockey for the Mustangs. That's actually what brought me to Saskatchewan," he shared. Now the allegiance is flipped, "It's funny because I am on the Klippers side now living in Kindersley, but I had that emotional attachment to Melfort for so many years with hockey."

Finding himself in Saskatchewan thanks to hockey when he was 18, the plan was to head back home to Alberta, but the Fouillards' opportunity opened up and Wigley has called Kindersley home for coming up on eight years now. He played four seasons for the local senior team and now his kids are the only Klippers in the family.

"We've got some pretty established roots here now it seems like. All our kids play sports here. This is the first year I decided not to coach, but I am on the minor hockey board. We spend a lot of time at the West Central Events Centre."

Since the series is only four games, if it is split after the four regular season matchups the winner will be whichever team gathered the most points in the standings during the four contests according to the earlier release. The winning team will hold on to the newly branded “Fouillards Cup” until the puck drops in 2023/2024.

"Hopefully we don't end in a tie, or else it may have to carry into next year."

Working his way into the family business, Wigley likely never would have imagined his flooring store would become intertwined with the league he played the sport he loves.

He mentioned multiple times just how fun the whole process has been, as he looks forward to seeing the Fouillards Cup out of the trophy case and hoisted into the air by the winning team after March 1st.