(Submitted photo/Wes Rudy)

By Ben Tompkins

Season Look Ahead

Trojans seeking quicker start, amplified playoff success

Oct 8, 2025 | 6:00 AM

The Tisdale Trojans are four games into their 2025/26 regular season and sport a 3-1 record.

While it’s a small sample size, it is a good sign for a team that has had trouble starting on time the past two seasons, despite increasingly improved years with playoff berths and wins to show for it.

During the 2024/25 campaign, Tisdale only won two of its first 12 games before managing to finish fifth in the league standings after winning 10 in a row and 23 of their last 32.

“The last two years, we’ve started slow, and as a coach, that’s on me. Last year, we were two, five and five at one point before we won 10 in a row, but you don’t want to put yourself in that position. You want to make sure that you start strong, and then if you do get into some injuries or sickness or anything like that, it doesn’t affect you down the stretch, whether you’re in the third or fourth spot or fighting for that last playoff spot. We just need to get off to a better start this year,” explained Trojans’ head coach Wes Rudy.

“I didn’t like our first weekend in Battleford; we got outworked and outplayed and were kinda lucky to come home with two points. It’s good that we at least got the split, but I felt like we left some points on the table… the last two years we’ve been known as one of the hardest working teams in the league, so that’s where my frustration comes from. I just didn’t want that to snowball into another slow start.”

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After the opening weekend split, Tisdale upped their game and swept the Notre Dame Hounds this past weekend in Wilcox.

Hopefully, that pushes the team, which Rudy described as even more skilled than it has been the past couple of seasons.

“The general consensus is that we’re maybe a little bit more skilled than we have been, but without a work ethic, skill means nothing. You still have to have a desire to win battles and go to the hard areas of the ice. We need to make sure that these guys understand that what they’ve been able to do through U13 and U15 as an individual, the team game now comes into play, so you better be a good teammate on the ice and off the ice,” he added.

“We’ve made great strides in building a culture where the boys know the standards that have been set. We don’t want to put too much pressure on the boys. We just want to make the playoffs and then go from there… we’re a storied franchise, so I don’t blame the community for having expectations to win. I just want the best for all these boys and to experience junior hockey and help them make it to that next level.”

The Trojans will be on the road once more on Thursday, before finally having their home opener this weekend, when they host the Swift Current Legionnaires for a pair of contests.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

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