YORKTON — The Yorkton Terriers reviewed financial statements and elected a new executive during the organization’s annual general meeting on Aug. 18.
Organization members, supporters and stakeholders gathered to reflect on the past year and to look ahead to the 2025-26 season. President Curtis Malysh said approximately 20-30 people were in attendance.
“That’s about normal for a successful season. Usually when there’s a downtrend, we see more people come,” said Malysh.
The Terriers suffered a financial loss of approximately $93,000 last season. Malysh noted, in 2023, the club completed some renovations to its dressing room, training area and coaches’ office, and some of those expenses showed up in the past fiscal year.
The team also hired a full-time assistant coach.
“When you’re playing a month or a month and a half longer, you’ve got more billet fees, meals on the road, bus trips, sticks, equipment, so it adds up,” said Malysh.
The club has taken steps to address the deficit, including the establishment of a fundraising committee that has already met a few times, he said. On Sept. 11, the Regina Pats and the Prince Albert Raiders will meet in a Western Hockey League preseason game in Yorkton. The team also plans to have a night golf tournament later in September.
Despite the loss, the team is not in the financial peril it faced in early 2024, when a Save the Terriers campaign was created to keep the team afloat. The campaign resulted in a Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) Award for Harvard Media.
Sponsorship should be higher this year, he said.
Four new members were elected to the board, and Malysh said he knows all four of them: co-treasurer Becky Dutchak, secretary Stephanie Buckle, alternate governor Dean DePape and board member Acacia Bushenlonga.
Returning to the board are Malysh, vice-president Kurt Karcha, co-treasurer Sarah Nelson, governor Grant Ottenbreit, and board members Ed Witherspoon, Josh Garbutt and Scott Hoffart.
Pat Koskie and Jason DeRuck officially resigned from their positions, while John Collins and Chad Hollinaty chose not to seek re-election.
Malysh said the success of the past season was “huge” for the team. Yorkton had a 33-21-2 record in 2024-25 and defeated their Highway 10 rivals, the Melville Millionaires, in the first round of the playoffs. The Terriers’ season ended in the second round when they lost to the eventual league champions, the Melfort Mustangs.
“We have a great coaching staff in place, and I know Emery [head coach and GM Emery Olauson] has been working hard to put another strong team on the ice. Our board of directors worked very, very hard to make it a successful season.”
