The La Crete Lumber Barons are set for another NWJHL season.
Head Coach and GM Dion Knelsen says the team will have a bit of a different look with quite a bit of turnover on the roster.
“There’s quite a few guys who have been here two or three years that felt it was time to just move on. It’s a huge commitment for these kids to dedicate their whole winter to every single weekend being busy and being gone with something and on the road trips. This year, we’ve had a bit more turnover. There’s a relatively deep talent pool of kids that live up here and they stay up here. The next ones are always waiting in the wings so we’ll see how they do.”
Despite those roster changes Knelsen says they do have a few big names returning.
“With the core we have and the veterans coming back in guys like Drew Friesen, Carter Fehr, Adrian Wall and our goalie Tyler Peters is back. With the core and the leadership that we have, I’m pretty confident that we’ll definitely be a competitive team. Every other team is making improvements as well and it feels a bit more like a wild card this year because we have a lot of new faces.”
Last season saw the Lumber Barons make it to the league finals, but they were beaten in six games by the Fort St. John Huskies.
This came after their league championship run in 2024 and also winning the silver medal at the Junior B Provincials.
The first game for the Lumber Barons will be on Saturday when they’ll host the Beaverlodge Blades in a pair of games this weekend.
You can listen to the full interview below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
