Taber Golden Suns preparing for tryouts

By Cole Parkinson
For Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It may still be August, but before you know it players will be heading back out onto the ice for the hockey season. 

Come the beginning of September, players will once again hit the ice for tryouts for the three Taber Golden Suns teams as they look to begin their quests for South Central Alberta Hockey League (SCAHL) banners. The U13 team will be coached by Chad Roderick, who is new to the Suns. Roderick has coached almost every minor hockey level and is from Raymond.U15’s head coach will be Jeremy Kenyon who was an assistant coach with the U15 club in 2021-22. U18 sees Lynn Degenstein back behind the bench for his eighth season with the Golden Suns. 

The U13 team is hoping to improve on their 2022-23 mark as they finished the year with a 6-27-2 record and 14 points. In the playoff tournament, the team went 0-3. So too are the U15 Golden Suns as they went 2-28-2 with six points in the regular season. The U15 team also went 0-3 in the playoffs and are looking to improve on that this season. The U18 team had an up-and-down 22-23 season and finished the year with an 11-18-5 record and 27 points. Like the two young Suns teams, the U18 team also went 0-3 in the playoff tournament. 

Registration for the teams has already begun and you can do so at http://www.taberminorhockey.com. Tryouts are scheduled to be held at the Taber Ice Arena on Sept. 6, 7, and 9 with a $100 tryout fee. Registration fees are $3,500 for the season and that includes player bags, shells, tracksuits, drylands gear, ice costs, bussing, and referee costs.  

The SCAHL pre-season tournaments have yet to be announced, but the regular season for U13 and U15 kicks off on Sept. 22 while U18 will begin on Sept. 30.