Kings and Queens hockey teams crowned ACAC Champions – Queens go back to back!

The Kings and Queens Hockey Teams are ACAC Champions

The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens win in overtime and become back-to-back champions in women’s hockey as they swept the Ooks in the best-of-five-game series with a 2-1 victory. After the Ooks dominated the majority of the period, the Queens would strike first with 46 seconds to go in the opening frame. On a two-on-two rush, forward Brenna Reid (Bachelor of Kinesiology) slid the puck over to her teammate Natalie Buttle (Bachelor of Kinesiology), who would wrist it past the NAIT goaltender for their third straight opening goal of the series.

At the end of the first 20 minutes, the Ooks outshot the Queens 10-4 as once again goaltender Tanya Disotell-Dunsmore (Bachelor of Science in Pre-Opt) was helping her team out in the pack of the net. The Ooks would tie it up at one after a misplayed puck in the Queens end landed on the stick of forward Jessica Engelbrecht (Bachelor of Business Administration) who would wrist it over the blocker of Disotell-Dunsmore.

The Ooks continued to dominate the game as they held the Polytechnic to six shots in the middle frame and put up 12 more to give them a total of 22 shots in the 40 minutes played.

This game would need overtime, but it sure did not take long for the Queens to become back-to-back champions as forward Avery Lajeunnesse (Bachelor of Education) wrapped the puck around and snuck it between the pad and the post to defeat the Ooks 2-1, 45 seconds into the overtime period. It was a delayed call, but the Polytechnic is now back-to-back champions.

Queens goaltender Tanya Disotell-Dunsmore stopped 30 of 31 shots on her way to being named the player of the game as they clinched the gold medal in the 2022/2023 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Women’s Hockey Season.

What a way to end the 2022/2023 RDP Athletics schedule with the Kings also winning the championship on Friday night.

The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings swept the NAIT Ooks in the best-of-five-game championship series and win their first championship since the 1993/1994 season.

The first period went uneventful for the second straight game. But the Kings were surely making Ooks goaltender Ryley Osland (Business Administration) sweat a little as they fired 17 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes. NAIT, on the other hand, had just three shots and would start the second period on the penalty kill. But the Ooks would kill it off and moments later would open up the scoring of Game 3. Off a faceoff, in their own zone, the Kings could not clear the puck as the Ooks were forechecking. This led to the puck landing on the stick of forward Dylan Stewart (Open Studies), who would rifle it past Kings goaltender Arik Weersink (Bachelor of Business Administration) for the early lead.

The Kings would return the favour with under two minutes to go. Defenseman Layne Toder (Management Certificate Skywing) sauced over a pass to forward Holden Knights (Bachelor of Education), who finished it off with a highlight reel goal as he backhanded the puck over the glove of Osland into the top corner of the net to tie it up at one.

After the second period, the Kings still were outshooting the Ooks 24-19 but NAIT controlled the pace of the game in the middle frame as they made Weersink work for all 14 saves in the 20 minutes and just held the
Polytechnic to seven shots.

Under two minutes into the final period, forward Erik Miller (Business Administration) would walk into the Ooks zone beat a diving defenseman and sneak one past Osland for their first lead of the hockey game. This would ultimately be the series-clinching and game-winning goal as the Kings defeated the Ooks 2-1. At the end of the game, the Polytechnic outshot NAIT 28-24.

As he stopped 26 of 28 shots, Ryley Osland was named the player of the game with the Kings goaltender Arik Weersink also being honored with the player of the game award.

This would end the RDP Athletics schedule for the 2022/2023 season with the Awards Banquet happening on Wednesday, April 5 to recap all the amazing moments that happened across all the sports teams and recognize all the student-athletes who contributed to an incredible year at the Polytechnic.

Related Topics:#ACACChampions #RDPKingsHockey #RDPQueensHockey feature

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Red Deer Hospital Lottery 2025 Winners

Published on June 26, 2025

Red Deer Regional Health Foundation

The Red Deer Regional Health Foundation is thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s Red Deer Hospital Lottery prizes – including the Dream Home, a $100,000.00 cash prize, and Mega Bucks 50.

James Smith of Spruce View has won the $100,000.00 cash prize.

Montey Brehaut of Red Deer has won the Mega Bucks 50 jackpot, taking home $301,702.50.

The grand prize Sorento Custom Homes Dream Home, including furnishings by Urban Barn and worth $1,074,472 – has been awarded to Oscar Gunnlaugson of Sylvan Lake.

The winner announcements took place at noon on June 26 , 2025 – and was streamed live on Facebook from Red Deer Regional Hospital Center.

“We’re excited to celebrate this year’s winners and deeply grateful to everyone who supported the lottery,” said Manon Therriault, CEO of the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation. “Funds raised will directly enhance patient care at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.”

This year’s lottery proceeds will fund essential new and replacement equipment, ensuring Red Deer Regional Hospital Center can continue to serve the 500,000 people who rely on it. While plans for the hospital expansion move forward, healthcare doesn’t wait. Patients in our community need access
to life-saving technology today, and supporting Red Deer Hospital Lottery has made that possible.

A full list of winners, including electronics prize recipients, will be posted on July 2 at reddeerhospitallottery.ca.

Winners will also receive instructions on how to claim their prizes by mail.

The keys to the Dream Home will be presented at a special ceremony this summer.

Business

Carnival Cinemas moving downtown: Owner Bill Ramji buys former Uptown Cinemas from RDP

Published on June 26, 2025

Todayville

News release from Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP)

Red Deer Polytechnic Sells Welikoklad Event Centre

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) has sold the Welikoklad Event Centre in downtown Red Deer to a new owner who has plans to revitalize the facility as a movie theatre. RDP purchased the Welikoklad Event Centre in 2012. For many years, the Centre served as a valuable learning space for students in a variety of programming, including arts and business. The facility also served as a community hub, where RDP hosted a variety of events for different organizations. With the evolution of time, and RDP’s mix of industry-relevant arts and business programs transitioning back to main campus, the Welikoklad Event Centre no longer serves the same purpose for the post- secondary institution as it once did.

“As we’ve reviewed our future strategic plans relating to program growth and facility usage, to best serve our students, industry partners and community members, we are confident we can meet everyone’s needs at our other campuses,” says Jim Brinkhurst, Vice President, Finance and Administration & Chief Financial Officer, Red Deer Polytechnic. “We feel that now is a good time for the institution to sell this facility and we are pleased to see it repurposed for other community uses that will continue to serve Red Deer and downtown well.”

The Welikoklad Event Centre has been purchased by local business owner, Bill Ramji. He owns Carnival Cinemas, currently located in the Capstone neighbourhood. Future development is planned on the current site of this movie theatre and community gathering space. Ramji is excited to revitalize the theatre’s nearly three decades of history in Red Deer at its new location (which will be renovated before opening) in the heart of downtown.

“Carnival Cinemas is proud to announce the acquisition of the Welikoklad Event Centre from Red Deer Polytechnic, marking an exciting new chapter for this venue and the downtown arts community,” says Bill Ramji, Carnival Cinemas owner. “With this acquisition, Carnival Cinemas reaffirms its commitment to bringing the best value in movies to central Alberta while expanding its focus on supporting local theatre and the performing arts. The Welikoklad Event Centre, previously The Uptown Theatre, was a hub for film lovers and creative voices, and Carnival is eager to build on that legacy.”

Ramji continues, “We’re excited to move forward as Carnival Cinemas and Event Centre and our goal is to continue providing high-quality movie experiences, while also working hand-in-hand with local artists, performers, and theatre groups to enrich downtown Red Deer’s cultural landscape. Carnival Cinemas & Event Centre looks forward to collaborating with the arts community and the broader public to ensure the space remains a vibrant and inclusive gathering place for film and theatre alike.”

RDP will continue to have a presence in downtown Red Deer, with their downtown campus located in the Millennium Centre. The downtown RDP campus is home to RDP’s Continuing Education and Corporate Training programs.