The Weyburn Red Wings held their annual general meeting June 17 where it was announced General Manager Ron Rumball will be passing the title to Coach Bryce Thoma.
"I look back at the time with the Red Wings, and I've enjoyed it immensely," said Rumball. "It's nice to know my moving on allows an eager young fellow to come in and put his brand on the Weyburn Red Wings."
Rumball has been the Red Wings general manager since 1995 and will be staying with the team in player development.
President Scott Sabados thanked Rumball for his many years of hard work.
Thoma reflected on his first year behind the Red Wings bench saying it wasn't the end result that they were hoping for but he is happy with the direction things are going.
"The decisions we made as a unit were for the front of the jersey not for the players. We needed to change some of the attitudes," he said. "Win or lose, we expect the players to work hard every shift."
Although the team hasn't announced any signings, Thoma said they are working on finding the best 25 players to start the season.
Looking ahead, Thoma said some of the trades made last season made the Wings a better team, which will help with the upcoming season.
"It's a big year and we have to make the playoffs. Our focus is to get back and that's what we plan to do."
The Red Wings will only be inviting enough players to fill two teams in the fall to keep competitiveness up for his returning players. In the past, the Wings have had four or five teams, made up of 80 players.
Assistant Coach Darcy Pindus added he is looking forward to the season.
"We'll have a competitive camp off the bat, with good recruits that will add to our line ups. Hopefully we'll have a stronger season this year."
Scott Sabados, Deron Fahlman, Dave Ferris and Ron Fellner stepped down from the Red Wings board of directors while Tanya Brown, Jerry Van Roon and Jean Hobbs were voted in as new members.
