For the first time ever, the Lake Country Cobra Chickens will take to the ice at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Prince Albert Raiders will rebrand for one night as the Lake Country Cobra Chickens on Friday night when they host the Saskatoon Blades in the first half of a weekend home-and-home series.
“I’ll be completely honest, it was driven by social media.” Raider business manager Michael Scissons says. “We’ve all been sucked down a rabbit hole of watching video after video. We just repeatedly kept seeing different people talking about their experience with Canadian geese while they were on the golf course at the lake, jogging through the park, and the ferocity of these animals. That tongue and the hiss that comes with them and how these cobra chickens, as they started to be called, were a terrifying animal, (and) we really took to it.
“Then, building off the success of what we saw with Swift Current last year, when they became the Slough Sharks, we just went with that name, and it’s been really popular.”
The Cobra Chickens uniform is a black primary color with cream numbers and red, cream and green trim. All of the jerseys will be auctioned off online with the auction closing at noon on Saturday, Jan. 27
Scissons says the rebrand and jersey concept have been in the works for nearly a year.
“It’s longer than what a normal jersey is. If we are creating a one-off jersey, most parts, we use one of our three logos that we have. When you do a complete rebrand like this, It goes right down to the concept of what the logo is going to look like. We’re down to how the shoulder patch is gonna look, different elements of it.
“It’s a longer process, which we’ve been working on. I’m going to say around 10-11 months now. The design, it takes the longest time, then you have to get approvals from multiple layers of people, including CCM, the CHL, the Western Hockey League, and you go from there.”
Throughout the game, fans will notice changes in the in-game presentation at the Art Hauser Centre. After receiving plenty of positive feedback from fans, Scissons says the Raiders are embracing the team’s new identity for the night.
“We’re going to try to do a complete rebrand. Instead of the Raiders logo on the Jumbotron, you’re going to see a Cobra Chickens logo. We’re doing our best to try to really embrace this. The only reason we’re embracing as much as we are is because the public is embracing as much as they are. We’re going have a fun time. We encourage everyone to come out and see them all on the ice.”
Scissons adds the feedback on the rebrand has been mostly positive from the fans and that Raider players have enjoyed the jerseys when worn for headshots earlier in the week.
“I think they’ve been fairly positive. They really like the look, the feel of the jersey when we took her head shots in them and until they don them tomorrow fully, we haven’t had anybody do the full thing, including the socks, they look good. When the guys put them on, they love the excitement of putting on a new jersey and that would be seen for the first time on the ice. They love it.”
Other teams who have undergone a one night rebrand in the WHL this season include the Swift Current Broncos (Lake Diefenbaker Slough Sharks), Brandon Wheat Kings (Wheat City Walleye) and the Saskatoon Blades (Saskatoon Bananas).
Puck drops between the Cobra Chickens and Blades at the Art Hauser at 7 p.m.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
