Butte Blades dressed for success

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Sunny South News

Picture Butte minor hockey recently got a face-lift in the guise of brand new jerseys and a new name across the boards. The Picture Butte Blades unveiled their new logo and hockey jerseys last Thursday night at the arena.

“All of the teams in our league had a separate name. There was the atom Cobras, the peewee Hawks and the midget Mavericks, so each level had a different name,” said Kathy Witdouck, a Picture Butte Minor Hockey League board member.

Witdouck’s 13-year-old son Kevin had a discussion with his mom regarding other minor hockey league teams such as the Crowsnest Pass Thunder.

All the teams in the community in the minor hockey league share the same moniker and logo. In Coaldale, the Cobras are the minor hockey league teams.

“All the towns that we play — all of their teams had one banner,” said Kevin, who is a student at St. Catherine’s in Picture Butte.

Kevin asked his mom why the Picture Butte teams were not under the same banner and so Kathy told her son to go ask the board.

And he did and the board agreed with the idea of having all the minor hockey league teams under one banner and logo.

“We put out a little contest to all the kids and we said why don’t you guys come up with a name. Each team submitted three names and as a board we picked the name the Blades — the Butte Blades. We had a logo designed and it’s basically based off the Saskatoon Blades logo, with our own little twist to it. Of course we needed new jerseys so we had to raise some money,” Kathy noted, adding the board found just what they were looking for with seed company DuPont Pioneer’s Hockey Jersey Bonanza.

“Pioneer runs this contest for communities to help them with minor hockey. Kevin looked through the contest and he submitted his contest entry and he was chosen as one of the winners. What we received was a set of free jerseys that we designated to our midget team. We also, as the board, did a number of other fundraising events and the local Lions Club was a very significant donor, helping us pay for new jerseys,” Kathy added, with the Picture Butte Lions Club sponsoring almost half the cost of the new jerseys to suit up the rest of the teams, which had a purchase price of close to $10,000.

Kathy believes the jerseys are awesome and from reports the board has been receiving from hockey parents, they love the new look of the jerseys and the fact all the minor hockey league teams in Picture Butte are under one banner.

“It’s been really positive,” Kathy said.

Kevin added he likes the new logo and this marks the first time the hockey fan has spearheaded an initiative such as this. He has also played the game since pre-novice or for the past seven years.

“I just like to be on the ice,” Kevin said. “It’s a Canadian sport.”