The Warren 67’s have officially concluded their inaugural season in the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League.
The 2025-26 HTJHL postseason is currently at its midway point, with six of 11 teams still in the hunt for the championship trophy.
Warren, however, is spending its days off reflecting on a season full of just about everything a first-year junior club could endure.
“It was definitely a lot of lessons learned,” said general manager Kasey Riddell on Feb. 23.
The 2025-26 Warren 67’s will be remembered as the team that introduced Junior ‘C’ hockey to the town and gave residents another team to rally behind.
The roster was built almost solely of local 2007-born players, which created challenges at the start of the season.
As the year wore on, Warren picked up its first win and found itself in many more one-goal contests.
Ultimately, the team finished the campaign with a 2-25-0-3 record before being eliminated in the HTJHL’s Play-In Round.
Riddell is pleased with how the club’s fan base stayed loyal throughout.
“We can’t do it without the backing and support of the community, and that’s not lost on us at all,” said Riddell. “As we build the team, that’s our goal — to build the team around local guys and players who are going to be supported by the community, and that will support the team.”
And though 2025-26 wasn’t the prettiest season on the ice, the club isn’t hanging its head over the problems it encountered.
Instead, it is looking ahead to how it can improve.
“When you’ve got 17- and 18-year-olds making up the bulk of your roster, that’s a challenge, but as the season went on we did get better, we did improve and I think we’re going to be better for it,” said Riddell.
This year’s club was staffed by coaches Cody King, Trey King, Colton King and Tori Patterson, with Riddell and Laura Kapusta sharing GM duties.
The team’s top scorer was forward Justin Braid, who posted nine goals and 10 assists in 27 games, while the leadership group was led by captain Evan Roy and alternates Owen Shymko, Gavin Winram and Wade Byle.
All five are eligible to return next season, along with much of the roster.
“It’s awesome, and it’s a good group of guys too,” said Riddell. “Not only having that talented core to work toward on-ice success, but that core is such a good group of character guys that they’ll help us as we bring graduating high school players into the team as well. I’m really excited — the future’s very bright.”
Some of those high school graduates will get their shot at becoming a 67 at tryouts in the fall.
