Dear Families,

Welcome to the 2026–2027 season with the U15AA Lynx Hockey Program!  This season promises to be an exciting year.  My name is Stephen Poll, and I will be head coaching the team once again this year.  I don’t want to waste time speaking about myself, the LBMHA and Lynx socials did a great job of introducing me and highlighting what I value in sports.  I’d encourage you to look there if you wish to find out more about me. July is over, and this hockey season will be upon us very quickly, and I wanted to use this opportunity to share some important information about the U15AA Lynx program.

Our team has a very busy schedule, and I can appreciate families will need/want to know about it before the season begins.  To start, we are budgeting for each family’s fees to be about $2200-$2500 in addition to league registration fees and excluding any team clothing.  We are looking to practice for 75 min twice a week, this has been Tuesday and Thursday in the past and rotates between Lumsden and Bethune rinks as ice is available.  We will be working with Legacy Fitness in Emerald Park to have the girls working out on 2 of their off days during the week (these will be virtual or pre-recorded to respect travel times and players families. Likely Monday and Wednesday).  And finally, the season will have 2-3 games scheduled every week, hopefully, on weekends.  The season will also have four tournaments scheduled.

Calgary Fire Starter Tournament – September 25-27 (A Final start was 5pm Sunday last year)

Regina Westridge Female Challenge – November 5-8

Winnipeg Jets Elite Girls Clash – December 3-6

TBD – sometime in January

There has been a lot of time put into preparing a season plan that will allow players to be successful and peak at the right time this season.  If you are considering/hoping your player will be on the team this season I would encourage you to stop looking for more hockey commitments during the season for them.  Our program will be committed to getting them the skill work, mental training, and conditioning they need throughout the season, and ultimately, their time off should be time away from hockey and the rink.

For those wondering about evaluation dates, this is what I have so far, though they can change prior to evaluations:

September 10^th – Goalie Evaluation from 7:15-8:30 pm

September 12^th – Skills Sessions from 10:15am-12:30pm

September 12^th – Scrimmage #1 @ 4:45-5:45 pm

September 13^th – Scrimmage #2 @ 12:30pm-1:30pm & Scrimmage #3 @ 5:30pm-6:30pm

September 17^th – Exhibition Game 7:15-9:45pm in Lumsden versus Weyburn (potential evaluation scrimmage)

September 18^th – Final roster will be posted. (may be finalized after September 14^th)

September 19^th – Exhibition Game 12:45pm versus Swift Current in Swift

This program is committed to fostering a positive and competitive environment where each player can thrive. The focus will be on individual skill, teamwork, discipline, and respect, while ensuring a love for the game. If you have any questions about the team or year planned, please feel free to contact me at stephenpoll3@gmail.com.  If you are wondering about tryouts or other league managed items, please reach out to Colin Hanoski at lbmhafemale@gmail.com.

Stephen Poll
Head Coach, U15AA Lynx Hockey Team