After speculations arose regarding the dissolution of the Junior A team that was slated to be based out of Rosetown, an official statement has been made from the GMHL West regarding the matter.

Derek Prue, GMHL West expansion director, stated yesterday, that the team is in fact moving and will now be based out of High Prairie, AB.

As of October 4, Prue was still campaigning for the team and conveyed to West Central Online that he was confident they would be calling Rosetown home. However, in an interview yesterday, Prue shared that the concerns in Rosetown started back in September when they were unable to have ice time in Rosetown for training camp.

“It was an oversight and an expensive lesson learned. We thought that we would be able to work around the ice time and have our training camp at other rinks but it just did not work out the way we thought it would.”

Although the ice is now in the arena in Rosetown and the team would essentially be at the same starting point in either location, Prue said the decision to move reflects a considerations for next year and the earlier start needed for training camp for the team.

The new High Prairie team will now have a condensed schedule as they are already approximately seven games behind and Prue shared the team still wont be ready for a couple weeks.

The GMHL West rep stated the few season ticket sales that were made have been reimbursed, along with other partnerships and billet agreements that were formed during the pre-season with Prue stating, “everything has been squared away and we are in good standing across the community.”

He did state that the community did have a “wait and see” attitude when it came to the team, from everything from ticket sales to billet families, more-so than they have seen from other communities. However, given the uncertainty surrounding the team since the initial announcement in July, it is not surprising the community was leery of whether or not there would be an actual team to support.

Despite Prue stating the ice time was the largest factor when determining the move, he stated the Town of Rosetown was “a dream” to deal with and said simply, it was lesson learned.

However, Rosetown hockey fans are not left team-less for the season. The Rosetown Senior Redwings are set to have their season opener in the Sask Valley Hockey League this Saturday, versus the Loreburn 19ers.