On Monday night your Golden Bears Hockey Alumni (GBHA) Board of Directors and Advisory Council members met and delivered on three key promises outlined to you previously:
1. Giving you full financial reporting 2. A plan to support the Bears in 2026-27 3. The launch of our GBHA mentorship program
You’ll see highlights of Monday night’s meeting below, followed by a salute to GBHA member and retiring Pandas Hockey coach Howie Draper.
Here are the key points from Monday night’s Board and Advisory Council meeting:
The year behind us: Here’s a summary snapshot of the totals raised by the Golden Bears Hockey Alumni (GBHA), teams and individual members to support the Bears in the 2025-2026 season:
Kudos to the 78/79/80 team members for kicking off their scholarship support campaign with a strong showing of $8,000 so far. Their goal is $15,000, given that there is overlap among the teams of players during that three-peat championship run.
The GBHA makes available every year, under a program set up a few years ago by Stan Marple, up to a total of $25K available in a matching donation program. A handful of former players have stepped forward on this initiative, each donating $1,000 or more on an annual basis. As you see above, there is room for another $4K in donations, which will be matched by the GBHA. If you’d like more details, let us know and we’ll connect you with Stan.
Scholarship funds are awarded at the end of the academic year, so scholarship funds raised this past year from the teams listed above will be awarded in the next several weeks. We’ll be sure to pass along to you the names of the recipients and the funds/endowments that granted them as soon as we get them. Scholarship funding for the team for next year is now fully completed.
The year ahead: Bears’ funding requirements in 2026-27: Let’s first of all look at this in the context of what’s happening at the U SPORTS level across Canada. It’s ugly.
Every one of the teams under the U of A Athletics umbrella is asked to raise funds to cover any shortfalls in their operating budgets. This is not unique to the U of A – this has been an issue across Canada in all U SPORTS. And it’s only getting worse, as you’ll see in this February 25th article in the Globe and Mail, highlighting how this funding crisis is causing sports programs to be dropped across the country. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-canadian-universities-sports-cuts-mcgill-sfu-usports/.
This is an absolutely crucial article that everyone should read. (If you have problems accessing this article, let us know and we’ll send you a PDF copy.)
Bears’ GM Stan Marple told our Board on Monday night that the funding gap the team will face next year, over and above the financial contribution to the Bears operating budget from the U of A, will be roughly in the $200,000 range. So that means that any funds we help raise in the year ahead will go towards filling that gap.
Stan let us know that this additional funding would help cover additional costs in these following areas:
Skates and sticks – we all know how costly those items are, and this represents well more than half of the $200K the team will need.
Assistant coaching– Includes an Assistant Coach as well as strength & conditioning and goaltending coaching support
High Performance Training Facility the Bears’ share, along with other U of A teams, in the rental cost of the South Campus space
Per diem player meal support for road trips
A big unknown yet is how we can help support the team in its move to the Silent Ice Centre in Nisku - Silent Ice Center | Hockey & Event Venue .
Our Silent Ice Committee, led by Brian Middleton, has done extensive planning and outreach work in the community surrounding Silent Ice. We’re working with Silent Ice and the Bears’ players to organize an “Open House. The idea would be to invite any GBHA member who would like to come out and check out the rink, meet with the players as well, and get a better feel for what’s in store next year.
We’ve tentatively set a date for Saturday, March 28th – we’ll let you know as soon as that’s confirmed with U of A Athletics Department. In the meantime, keep that date in mind.
The Silent Ice Committee’s goal is to provide a number of elements to support the team next year, which may include the following:
A possible shuttle service for students going from North Campus out to Silent Ice for the Bears’ home games. We’ve identified at least two corporate sponsors already interested in seeing if we can make that happen.
A 2026-27 Partners’ Circle offering of $10,000 for corporate sponsors, that will include a number of features involving our activities, including our Golf Tournament, our GBHA social media platform and exposure in our E-Newsletter. We’re waiting on the Athletics Department for details on what we can offer for branding at the Silent Ice facility and see if we can incorporate any of that in our offering.
Support for the Bears summer hockey camp, which has moved from River Cree now out to Silent Ice. Details further below.
GBHA Mentorship Program: Great work by GBHA Vice-President Dion Zukiwsky and his Mentorship Committee. Here’s their first messaging to you:
We are launching something we have wanted to build for a long time: The Golden Bears Hockey Alumni Mentorship Program.
It’s a simple idea — and a powerful one: connecting our Alumni with current players and fellow Alumni who are navigating career decisions, transitions, and “what’s next” moments.
Our objectives are to: Provide current Golden Bears hockey players with mentorship and networking opportunities. To assist all Golden Bears Hockey Alumni members with connections to other Alumni for assisting future career advancements, changes, etc. To establish a formal mentorship program that can be used as a recruiting tool to attract future Golden Bears.
Whether you are a seasoned professional, recently retired from playing, building a business, or exploring a career change yourself — you have experience that can make a real difference to someone in the Golden Bears Family.
Over the next couple of weeks, we will be sharing more details and inviting Alumni to sign up as mentors. For now, we just wanted to put it on your radar:
-Low time commitment -High impact -Built around real conversations and real connection.
More soon — but we hope you will seriously consider being part of it.
Go Bears! “Once a Bear, Always a Bear!”
GBHA Website and Social Media: we’ll be rolling out our new website in our next E-News edition, so watch out for that. Added bonus: we’re posting on the website as many of the team pictures as we can find, so that we create a virtual GBHA Wall of Fame similar to the wall in the lobby of The Drake. If you’ve got older team pics, especially from the ‘50s or ‘60s and earlier, that you can send along, please do!
GBHA Media Relations Director Delaney Miles continues to spread word on our GBHA activities on social media, and now covers all every major junior team in Canada. If you’re on Instagram especially, be sure to give us a follow. Here’s a sample of the great work she’s doing - be sure to check out the text highlighting our mentorship program below the image in the post :
Year-end wrap up: Coach Ian Herbers gave the Board an overview of the past year. The team clearly wanted to go further than they did, but finished with an extremely strong series against Saskatchewan. A strong core is returning, recruiting is well underway already, and the team is extremely tight, as I noted in the last E-News based on what I saw up close in Saskatoon. Interesting to note that the Huskies swept #1 ranked UBC 2-0 at UBC last weekend, and will be taking on Mount Royal this weekend for the Canada West title. Both teams qualify for the national finals in Halifax on March 19-22.
Coach Herbers also let us know that the players have no problem playing at Silent Ice, and understand that having a full time presence there is better than practising and playing at different rinks in the city throughout the winter if they hadn’t found a permanent home for next year.
Stan Marple has highlighted that we really need to help the team market the summer hockey school. We lost the River Cree location for the school and will be hosting it at Silent Ice this year for three weeks from August 10th to 24th. This means we need to cultivate a new following of youth and parents in the Leduc and surrounding area and assure the school is full. A successful hockey school is key for the team: the financial contribution to the Bears program is meaningful and – even more importantly – it gives our current Bears’ players some well-paid work for the few weeks the camps run. That’s a key part in our recruiting efforts as well.
So, starting now, if you can help spread word among the U-11/U-13/U-15 leagues and teams/coaches you’re in touch with, that’s a huge help. For many of us, going to this hockey school was the first step to becoming a Golden Bear.
Coach Herbers is always on the ice, hands-on and helping the youngsters in the camp. Check out Ian’s impressive credentials both as a pro and a U of A player and coach here and you’ll see why his leadership in the camp is a huge asset. Please check-out and share these details on the hockey school: https://www.gbhprospects.com/summerhockeyschool
Upcoming Events: The Board noted the following dates for you to keep in mind:
Silent Ice Open House – Tentative Saturday, March 28th – TBC GBHA Golf Tournament @ Blackhawk – Thursday, August 6th Golden Bear Hockey School – August 10-24 at Silent Ice GBHA Casino – Monday & Tuesday, September 28-29 – Please mark this down as we’ll need three dozen volunteers for our biggest fundraising event of the year. GBHA Sweater presentation – September/October – TBC Next GBHA Board meeting – Monday, June 1, 2026.Congrats, Howie Draper!
This recent Instagram post below pretty much sums it all up – a huge thanks and congrats to GBHA member and Pandas Coach Howie Draper, who announced last week that he’s retiring after 28 years of coaching the Pandas.
Here’s Howie’s note to the Pandas and their Alumni about his decision to step back: (According to Jeff Helland….“What he forgot to share in his note is that playing more often for The Greys as a spare or regular member was a big part of his decision to pack it in! )
A message from Howie Draper: For the past 28 years, I have had the amazing fortune to serve the University of Alberta Pandas Hockey team as its Head Coach. It is with mixed feelings that I now share with you my decision to retire to the next phase of my life in whatever form that may take.
This journey has been one that I will always hold dear. Though the path has been long, mostly euphoric, at times tough, and always fulfilling – it has truly been a blessing that I've been able to share this with so many incredible student-athletes, kinesiologists, staff members and coaches such as you.
To everyone – you've all played a part in helping build something special here at the U of A. You've contributed significantly to the tradition of excellence that U of A Athletics has become known for. For that, you should be proud! For my part, your many successes have provided opportunities for me personally that I never would have dreamed of when I agreed to take on this role nearly three decades ago. The experience has been life changing for me, and this path that we've shared will never be forgotten.
Alas, my flame for the game and the "fight" has dimmed somewhat. The program that you've helped build deserves a coach that can bring new ideas, new energy and new life. Please rest assured that I will play a part in helping to find this new champion that can lift the Pandas Hockey Team and the players within it to new heights! I will also be around to help support the new coach in their role in whatever way I can. So you haven't heard the last of me!!
In closing, I want to thank all of you for entrusting me to share a portion of the way on your own paths and, in so doing, helping to bring meaning to my life! Most importantly, thanks for being a part of the Pandas Family! Once a Panda, always a Panda!
Howie Draper
Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Once a Bear, Always a Bear!
Rick Peterson President Golden Bears Hockey Alumni
|
Comments