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While Saskatchewan is in the dog days of summer, hockey fans like Sean Schroeder are keeping one eye on rinks across the city and the start of the 2026-27 season.
It’s not just Schroeder who are already getting into the hockey mood, as the assistant commissioner of Saskatoon & District Comets Female Hockey has seen hundreds of families already sign up to take part this winter.
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“We are at 862 (registrations),” Schroeder said. “Comparing that to last year which was 827 (registrations), it’s pretty crazy.”
It’s a record-breaking number for the Comets organization, which has climbed from 725 registrations just three years ago for the 2023-24 season.
That’s a jump of nearly 19 per cent for the city-wide girls minor hockey organization, which Schroeder is optimistic will lead to even more talent lacing up skates in the coming years.
“When our numbers continue to grow, I think the talent always continues to grow as well,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder attributes the rapid rise in registration numbers to the success of the Professional Women’s Hockey League over the past three years and the visibility of homegrown stars chasing the Walter Cup.
“Girls having more places to go and to look up to, not just looking at the NHL,” Schroeder said.
“Now they see girls, right? Saskatoon has Emily Clark and Sophie Shirley who both play in the PWHL, they’re born and raised Saskatoon girls. The U7 girls, the U9 girls, U11 girls are like, ‘Hey, if they did it, I can do it too.’”
To capitalize on the increase in interest, the Comets are introducing a new ‘A’ team structure at their U9 level this upcoming season.
According to Schroeder, the move was done after a handful of exhibition games between their top U9 girls players in the city and boys teams competing with the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association.
“This is the first year that we’re actually going to go forward with a U9 ‘A’ team,” Schroeder said.
“It shows just where the program is going, we’re constantly trying to strive to push the girls and have those opportunities at the highest level that we can offer.”
One key difference for the Comets in comparison to SMHA is the fact they don’t use a zone model to assemble teams, with players from all corners of the city being placed together.
While there are no immediate plans to move to zones, it is something that has come up in discussions with the level of growth they’ve seen.
“We do talk about it lots,” Schroeder said. “What does that look like with our growth pattern? Probably when that time comes, we’ll collaborate with SMHA and other zones to learn from them.”
Saskatoon & District Comets Female Hockey was one of five national finalists for the 2026 Kruger Big Assist contest, which included a $25,000 donation towards programming. (Saskatoon Comets Female Hockey/Facebook)
With an average of 46 new players joining the Comets each year, the organization is on pace to break the 1,000 athlete mark sometime in the next three years.
Schroeder said there is no benchmark to reach before they’d consider going to zones though.
“Within all of our divisions, U7 to all the way through to U18, we can continue to increase those teams,” Schroeder said.
“Maybe there is a point in time where we have to split the city in two (zones) or split the city in four (zones), I’m not sure.”
One area the Comets are keeping their eye on is ice availability in the city, which they follow SMHA on to allocate ice time for their teams and athletes.
“It’s a concern for sure,” Schroeder said. “It was great when Merlis Belsher (Place) opened up, but I think the city could use probably another four sheets of ice.”
Making sure enough coaches are behind the various benches is also key this time of year, according to Schroeder.
“Within the Comet zone, I think we have a really great group of coaches,” Schroeder said.
“Is it an abundance of coaches? No, but we always seem to get coaches on those teams and we’ve got a lot of great coaches in our zone.”
The Comets will be investing in offering coaching clinics for program alumni, creating mentorship programs and assisting financially-burdened families with equipment for the 2026-27 season after being named a regional finalist for the 2026 Kruger Big Assist contest.
Along with a $25,000 donation from Kruger, Schroeder said the added visibility of Comets hockey will go a long way this winter.
“I think the recognition, or the marketing or advertising of being part of that program, I think it also helps,” Schroeder said. “There may be people in the city that don’t realize there is an all-female zone.”
The clock is now ticking towards city-wide evaluations during the week of Sept. 9, which can’t come soon enough for the organization anticipating a record-breaking year on the ice as well.
“Teams start having ice time in October, so it’s going to be a very busy September,” Schroeder said. “What are we, four or five weeks away from evaluations? It’s the fun time now.”
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