The Prince Albert Titans will be excited to move out from the Kinsmen Arena to a newer facility. (File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D'Andrea

New rinks on the way?

Prospect of new Prince Albert rinks excites Titans, Predators, and minor hockey

Jun 26, 2020 | 3:54 PM

Wayne Mesenchuk is fortunate for everything he has at the Kinsmen Arena.

It’s a rink he considers a “second home” from all the memories he created as a youngster playing hockey, to doing just about everything to run the Prince Albert Titans Junior B club as team’s president, general manager, and alternate governor.

But that doesn’t mean things at the rink’s facilities can’t be better.

The Titans’ tiny office is tucked away in the basement and loaded with air fresheners to combat the smell that sometimes emits from the pipes. Water can leak in there. It’s less of an office and more of a crowded closet with possible safety hazards.

“It’s tough, we’re in the basement. We have challenges, sometimes water is leaking in so on and so forth. We’re trying to run a franchise out of a basement with limited room,” Mesenchuk said while adding he’s received a lot of help from the city throughout the years. “We don’t have a dressing room for the boys like other teams have in our league.”

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Mesenchuk’s wish to get out of the basement and into a brand new facility could be coming sooner rather than later. The City of Prince Albert announced it will consider buying land between Highway 3 and Marquis Road for the new $60 million Aquatics and Arenas’ recreation centre on Thursday.

The new facility is planned to feature two new rinks that can seat 800 fans and is planned to replace the Kinsmen Arena and the Dave G. Steuart Arena. And Mesenchuk is hoping a few offices and dressing rooms for local Junior B teams could be included in the plan, as well.

“Going forward, I think all of the teams are going to have talks with the city to see ‘what do you need? What would be good for you guys?’” Mesenchuk said. “I’m hoping we will have an opportunity to put forward something at least we can call a little bit of an office or something towards a dressing room. This is such good, good news, but we’ll have to see how that works out.”

Minor hockey teams would make good use of new rink facilities in Prince Albert. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Minor Hockey

It won’t just be the Titans who will benefit. The Prince Albert Minor Hockey Association, consistently uses the Kinsmen and the Steuart Arena. James Mays, the technical director for minor hockey in Prince Albert, said a new facility would give everybody peace of mind for not having to worry about whether or not the “outdated” facilities would falter.

“It would be huge for us. Nothing is guaranteed, but this is a good first step that the city’s moving forward,” Mays said. “I don’t think it’s a secret that in the past few years, our tournament participation here in P.A. from out-of-town teams has dwindled a little bit. So, this would great from that aspect, because everybody wants to come to play in new rinks and new facilities.

“And of course, if there are more teams coming to town for minor hockey tournaments, that helps everybody. They’re staying in hotels, they’re eating in restaurants, they’re going to local sporting good stores. That helps.”

The Predators won the PJHL junior title in 2018. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Predators and box lacrosse

The box lacrosse scene in Prince Albert could see a huge boost as well. The Predators have long competed in the junior ranks while the Outlaws have played two seasons in the senior league.

Tyson Fetch, Predators head coach and former president of the Prince Albert Lacrosse Association (PALAX), said the new facilities with two rinks could eventually lead to more teams.

“It may even open the door for Prince Albert to have two different junior lacrosse leagues, one maybe in the league above or even in the same league,” Fetch said. “We could host games at the same time, we could host tournaments. There’s talk about going to a Memorial Cup-style championship in our league, so we could host that a lot easier.”

Like Mesenchuk, Fetch has a lot of good memories in the Kinsmen Arena. His Predators won the PJHL title in 2018 and were one win away from repeating as champions in 2019. In his last year as president of PALAX, Prince Albert hosted box lacrosse provincials for midget, bantam, and peewee at the same time in the city.

“The Kinsmen feels like home. Definitely, we’ll miss the intimacy of that arena but a new facility to play in, I think will attract more players and more spectators to watch Predators’ games,” Fetch said. “But if we get into the new arena, the players will not miss the heat created with 800 spectators watching a game at the Kinsmen Arena. They won’t miss that, it gets so hot in there. Every game, every practice, it was so hot. I hope the new arena brings the temperature down a little bit.”

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW