To say the Dauphin Kings’ Ukrainian Night on Saturday was a success would be an understatement.
In case you missed it the Kings and Ruff’s Furniture in Dauphin hosted over 1700 fans on Saturday where the Kings defeated the Virden Oil Capitals 3-2 in overtime.
Along with the live Ukrainian bands, Kubassa Toss, and traditional Ukrainian meals being served at the concession the Kings also wore special Ukrainian Night jerseys.
“It was something that we started on in the summer” says Kings Director of Marketing & Media Relations Christian Laughland.
“Ryan Rauliuk (Ruff’s Furniture), Dave Campbell (Parkland Source for Sports) and I sat down on a rainy day in June and constructed the jerseys. We understood they needed to have the Ukrainian tradition in them and what came out as the finished product was excellent.”
The Kings sold the jerseys, which also had all players’ last names in Ukrainian, through a silent auction at the game on Saturday.
The night started off with the team being introduced in Ukrainian by local teacher Stephen Jaddock and the video (Below) has since gone viral with over 25,000 views on Monday morning.
“I guess some people in Ukraine heard about the game we had and what we did and since then we’ve been getting calls from Ukrainian news outlets” says Laughland.
This was the second year the Kings held Ukrainian Night at Credit Union Place and the club will look to keep the tradition going next season as well.
For more pictures and videos from the event check below!