Game On Magazine - April 2017 GameOn-Apr2017-P001-144-ONLINE | Page 114

MANITOBA JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Kings
Ukrainian
Night Jerseys
Something to
Talk About
By Johnston Hall
Photos by Pederson Photography
DAUPHIN, MB. – When the Dauphin Kings hit the ice for another
Manitoba Junior Hockey League regular season game on Saturday
Jan. 28, the entire atmosphere was, well, different.
It was, after all, the Kings Second Annual Ukrainian Night at Credit
Union Place, and, in Dauphin, that’s a very special night.
The evening itself had gained popularity within the community,
bringing a number of people who wouldn’t normally attend a Kings
game to the rink. This season the Kings wore special one night jer-
seys for the first time ever, and were they ever special. Especially in
a place like Dauphin.
That night, the Kings wore special Ukrainian jerseys, jerseys that
were so well accepted, the team was not prepared for the over-
whelming response it received.
Within 24 hours of defeating the Virden Oil Capitals 3-2 in over-
time in front of a near sell-
out crowd at CPU, the Kings
were national news, not just
in Canada, but in the country
of Ukraine and beyond.
“The response was pretty
unique”, said Kings Director
of Marketing & Media Rela-
tions, Christian Laughland.
“We knew they were special
jerseys, we knew people in
Dauphin would like them, but
we didn’t think it would make
it all the way across the At-
lantic Ocean.”
The Kings had all their play-
ers announced one-by-one
before the game in Ukrainian.
The video on YouTube has
already surpassed 75,000
views and has been on nu-
merous TV stations through-
out Ukraine.
Last summer, Laughland
sat down with local business
owners Ryan Rauliuk (Ruff’s Furniture) and Dave Campbell (Park-
land Source for Sports) and the three designed the jersey together.
114 GAME ON
2017 PLAYOFF EDITION
“Ryan knew what he was doing coming into the meeting,” said
Laughland. “He’s a high-end Ukrainian and we all basically agreed
on what his idea was and from there it was pretty easy.”
The cherry on top of the jerseys was the fact the Kings took the
time to translate all of their players’ last names into Ukrainian and
then were able to put those names on a bar and sew them to the
back of the special jerseys.
“We plan on doing the Ukrainian Night jerseys again somewhere
down the line” said Laughland. “Next year, the Kings, as an organi-
zation, will also celebrate its 50th Anniversary. I can say this, I think
the next time we do it, regardless of when it is, it’ll be with more
traditional Ukrainian colours.
“But don’t hold me to that.”
As of today, the Kings’ next Ukrainian Night is scheduled for Satur-
day, Jan. 27, 2018. The club hopes everyone is planning to make the
trek up to the Parkland community. n