After a more than 10-year absence, WolfPack hockey will return to TRU in the fall featuring both men’s and women’s teams.
In June, the WolfPack announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with the Logan Lake Miners hockey program to fold the team into the ‘Pack in a self-funded capacity.
“We are pleased to welcome hockey to TRU as a competitive club program,” said Curtis Atkinson, WolfPack director of athletics and recreation.
Recently, The Omega spoke with Logan Lake Miners head coach Grant Friesen, who discussed some of the benefits of the affiliation and the team’s rebranding.
“For me, it’s super exciting to be able to bring hockey back into the WolfPack for honestly, a ton of reasons,” Friesen said. “On the recruiting end of things, it makes my life so much easier because we automatically bring a ton of legitimacy to what we’re doing, being able to call ourselves ‘TRU WolfPack,’ as opposed to the Logan Lake Miners.”
One of the hurdles, Friesen explained, was that although the Miners had built a good rapport and reputation within the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL), not having a direct affiliation with a post-secondary institution was somewhat of a limitation. Previously, when Friesen spoke with prospective recruits, he told them that although they would attend TRU while playing for the Miners, they would not be part of the WolfPack.
“Now I can explain to families, ‘Hey, I want you to come to school at TRU, I want you to play for the WolfPack. We play and practice in Logan Lake; this is where our home is for [the team], but we’re a part of the athletic department [and] the school.’ On that side of it, it makes a world of a difference and opens up a lot of opportunities,” Friesen said.
Such opportunities include the ability to raise more capital for the club through fundraising and sponsorships, since having an affiliation with a recognized university increases overall visibility and provides a sense of authenticity to outside businesses and organizations.
“It’s a lot easier to explain that these are university athletes that are trying to continue their hockey careers while pursuing post-secondary education,” he said. “It gives the athletes who have been here since day one, and who have helped build up our program on the men’s side, I think, the recognition they deserve [that] they are university athletes that do compete for their school.”
While the return of WolfPack hockey is certainly a special occurrence, what’s made it even more historic is the announcement that for the first time in TRU history, the ‘Pack will also be home to a women’s team. Tryouts for that team were held earlier this month in Logan Lake with the turnout exceeding Friesen’s expectations.
“We were able to sign a bunch of players; we’re still obviously looking for more players to fill out our roster,” he said. “But what really excited me about our tryouts was the amount of interest we got. I had a bunch of [players] who weren’t able to make it out that weekend but were still very interested in playing for our team.”
Upwards of 35 women showed up for the tryouts, which took place on July 18 and 19.
Two points make that figure so encouraging for the team. Firstly, from the time they were announced to when they took place, it was only about five weeks, a relatively short time in the sport. Secondly, tryouts are normally held in the spring after the end of the regular season, not in the summer.
“I’d have rather done this in the spring, shortly after hockey season had ended,” Friesen said. “But we had a great response. We had quite a few young ladies there that are going into their Grade 12 year that are playing [at] a high level of hockey up to the AAA level, kind of across the province, come to the tryout to express their interest in coming to play for the WolfPack in the 2027-28 [season] after they’ve graduated as well.”
For some, seeing the return of the men’s team and the addition of the women’s team to the ‘Pack may come as something of a surprise. When asked about the prospect of the sport returning to TRU as recently as 2023, The Omega was told by Atkinson that it was “very unlikely,” due in large part to the expense.
With the club moving forward on a self-funded model, however, many in the community are hoping their stay lasts more than just five seasons, as it did the first time around. Asked about his upcoming goals for WolfPack hockey, Friesen was very clear.
“Now that we have the affiliation with the school and we can start to build that way, honestly, my goal is to make the WolfPack hockey program, on both the men’s and women’s side, the desired premier spot for players to play in the BCIHL.”