Neepawa's Junior A Hockey Team Has Economic and Social Impact on Town

Ken Pearson, General Manager and Head Coach of the Neepawa Titans Junior A hockey team, has a long history in the Neepawa area. He grew up here, played here as a teenager, and was even assistant coach as a young man before leaving to coach in other areas of the province and country. Returning to coach the Neepawa Titans a few years ago was a homecoming for him, and as a hometown boy he has significant ties to life in the area.

Having a Manitoba Junior Hockey League team in Neepawa is no small thing. Neepawa is the smallest market in the league and the team can have an outsized impact on the town, particularly economically. It starts with the Yellowhead Centre, for which the hockey team is a tremendous source of operating income. The league itself regularly brings visitors to town from across the province for games as well as visits from family of the many players from across North America - from Yellowknife to Arizona - who are living with billet families. The team keeps purchases as local as it can, and that is everything from venue improvements and equipment right down to the food for a couple dozen hungry teenage boys.

Pearson is careful in his selections not just to have good hockey players but to have players who genuinely want to be in the community and contribute to community life whether that’s through the school for helping younger players or through volunteerism such as in the seniors residences, service clubs, elementary schools, or coaching younger players. The team is a source of volunteer labour for community groups that should not be underestimated.

“Having a junior team in Neepawa is something we should be proud of,” says Pearson.

Pearson also talks about the changing face of the hockey draft, which has seen some significant changes over the past couple of years. Most players in this league aren’t looking towards the NHL, but rather college hockey or Western Hockey League (WHL), which is a step up from Junior A. Where once he could draft a player and develop them before signing them to the team, now he and his fellow coaches are pressured to sign players quickly or let them go elsewhere in a complicated trade system. A big part of Pearson’s concern isn’t for his own team but for young players who are being railroaded into other leagues and potentially leaving home before they’re really ready.

The auto-protect system, where a team can essentially ‘claim’ two local players before they go to the draft, can help alleviate some of that by enabling them to keep younger, promising players at home longer and still let them play for the team. He also credits Neepawa’s minor hockey program for producing a great pool of players to come up into the junior league.