The Chilliwack
Progress Wednesday
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Olympic Gold
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Relive the 2010 Olympics through the lens of Jenna Hauck.
Cemetery defends tree removal.
Re-tooled roster loses two to Langley.
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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • W E D N E S D AY, J A N U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 4
Weekend storm brings record temp A wet and windy weekend ushered in record temperatures in Chilliwack on Monday. Warm Pacific winds brought temperatures to 11 degrees on Jan. 13 – the warmest minimum high for January since records started in 1896, reports Roger Pannett, volunteer weather observer with Environment Canada. The double-digit heat (similar to an average evening temperature in early July, Pannett notes) shattered the previous record of 7.7 degrees set in 1994. The average minimum temperature for January is -1.8 degrees. The warm weather was a result of a powerful offshore system that brought a stormy weekend to the Fraser Valley. Strong winds knocked out power to thousands of Sardis residents Saturday morning and again Saturday evening, as trees and branches took out powerlines. Other pockets of Chillwack were without power at different points throughout the weekend as BC Hydro crews raced to replace downed lines and blown transformers. At one point more than 20,000 Lower Mainland residents were without power. More than 37 millimetres of rain fell on Saturday. That was less than the 50 mm forecast, and lower than the 51.8 mm record set in 1932. Overall, rainfall amounts for January remain below average, Pannett said. Midway through January, Chilliwack has received 107.8 mm of rain. The total precipitation average for the month is 263.7 mm. That follows a particularly dry December, Pannett said. Only 95 mm of total precipitation fell in the month, down sharply from the 294.4mm 30-year average. Said Pannett: “With total precipitation over 67 per cent below normal it was the 15th consecutive December with below normal precipitation and the driest since 1985.”
Chief president Glen Ringdal announces new ticket prices at a press conference at Prospera Centre on Monday. GREG KNILL /PROGRESS
Chiefs mark anniversary with price cut Prospera Credit Union inks new five-year deal Eric Welsh The Progress The Chilliwack Chiefs are cutting some season ticket packages by more than 50 per cent as the team prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Calling it a ‘celebration price,’ team president Glen Ringdal revealed what the cost will be to see junior A hockey next year. From now until April 1, adult season tickets will tumble from $388 to $199. Seniors will pay $189 and all child and youth prices will pay $99. After April 1, prices will rise to a level that will still be at least 25 per cent lower than this
anniversary, what happens in 2014-15? “We have promised anyone buying their season tickets this year will be able to buy their season tickets for the following year at that same 25 per cent off price,” Ringdal said. “It’ll be very good pricing for a minimum of two years, and maybe more. The more people who are in here on a regular basis, the less revenue we need to generate from ticket sales.” The Chiefs have seen their attendance slide backwards this year. Their per-game averages topped 2,000 the last two seasons. But with the team struggling mightily on the ice, the average is down to 1,647. That’s still good for third best in the BCHL, and Ringdal said
year’s prices. You can call it the Penticton plan. The Vees did much the same thing last summer during a 30 day campaign. With the lower ticket prices and a good on-ice product, Penticton has averaged 2,066 fans per game in 2013-14 as opposed to 1,786 in 2012-13. “They had great success with it, even though they did it at a time of the year where’s there’s not a lot of attention on hockey,” Ringdal noted. “We’re thinking if we do it now, when people are in the building, there should be a strong response to it.” But, if the current promotion centers around the team’s 25th
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attendance is down just about everywhere. “All of hockey is, and it’s not unique to our league at all,” he said. “As a matter of fact, it’s quite pronounced in some other leagues. As a team, we were number one in Canada for two years in a row. This year the team hasn’t performed at the same level, and that naturally leads to a decline. Also, I think our season ticket prices last year were a little too high because they included the BCHL Showcase and some other things.” At the same time he was introducing the new ticket prices, Ringdal also announced the return of Prospera Credit Union as the title sponsor at Prospera Centre. Continued: CHIEFS/ p8
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