President’s Message
Welcome, Komoka Kings fans, to our 7th season at the Komoka Wellness Centre. It feels
good to be returning to the rink, after what always feels like a long offseason.
This year is a one of sweeping change and budding excitement for both our league and our
team.
The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) this year has condensed into two, larger,
conferences. This means we will see some new opponents playing in Komoka twice per year.
We welcome and look forward to hosting the Stratford Warriors, Elmira Sugar Kings,
Listowel Cyclones, and Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins at the Wellness Centre. With these new
conferences, not every team makes the playoffs in our division, which makes every game
mean more on the ice.
For the team, it has been a big offseason, and we can’t wait to share the fruits of our labour
with you, the fans.
Firstly, we have completely rebranded the team, now featuring a purple and gold colour
scheme. Inspired by the original Los Angeles Kings logo, the new Kings logo and colours
feature a regal, vintage font to go with the original Kings crown, a symbol of Komoka
hockey, now in gold. This rebrand comes with new custom uniforms, helmets, gloves, pants,
and most excitingly, merchandise – so you can represent the Kings in style both at and away
from the rink.
We have had some turnover both on the roster and in the coaching staff. As this season
begins, we have sixteen new players on the team, providing a fresh look on the ice. In terms
of staff additions, we welcome Brian McAllister (former Head Coach of the London
Nationals) and Rodney Hynes (former Head Coach of the Lucan Irish Six) as assistant
coaches. They join our returning Head Coach Rumun Ndur and Goalie Coach T.J. Robertson
on the staff.
Additionally, we have established and fortified partnerships to ensure a first-class player
experience for everyone who wears a Kings uniform. Through our continued strong
partnership with the town of Middlesex Centre and user groups, we have secured practice
times that benefit our players more than in previous years. We have also partnered with
EPIC (Elite Performance and Injury Centre) to provide our players with a state of the
strength, conditioning, and recovery space.
We have a strong core of staff that will help us continue progressing on and off the ice. Ray
Giffen returns as Assistant General Manager, Daryl, and Ed Bond return as equipment managers, and Braiden Procure returns as trainer. On the media side, Dylan Baker returns as
play-by-play broadcaster and Head of social media, with Tyler Morton providing colour
commentary on the broadcasts, and we welcome Jake Arts to the staff as our graphic
designer and videographer, as well as Jack Gower as the team’s new photographer.
With that said, we would not be the Komoka Kings without our great game day volunteers
led by Barry Irwin and Paul Mylemans. There are many others that volunteer their time to
make our fans’ game day experience a great one. This includes the Optimist Club members
who also partner with the Kings on various game day activities.
Another key component of our team are the great local partners that sponsor and support
our team and without these businesses we would not be able to have a great program for
our players to continue their hockey development.
On behalf of the entire Komoka Kings organization, I welcome you. Our goals are simple:
strive to be the best team in the league both on and off the ice and create a fan experience
second-to-none.
GO KINGS GO!
Roop Chanderdat
Owner, President, and GM
