The Whitehorse Huskies are heating up, with the recent announcement of a reorganization of their management from a private owned team to a non-profit.

"The team itself has moved out of a private ownership situation,” coach Randy Merkel said.

While the team is not officially a non-profit society, Merkel said they are heading in that direction to be able to get more sponsors involved, and to stabilize the team.

The move began about two weeks ago, Merkel said, and the team's management is now being looked at in a new way to ensure the long-term survival of the AAA team.

The team is still going ahead for the same reasons – to establish a high-calibre of hockey in Whitehorse, that players can come home to once they age out of other leagues.

Since Merkel was last involved in AAA hockey, in 1993 when the Huskies won the Allan Cup, he said the level of play has increased significantly.

"I knew it was high-level hockey, but I think it's stepped up even higher,” Merkel said.

He adds that many players in playing AAA now have come from higher leagues that have folded for various reasons since the early ‘90s, when the Huskies were last involved.

Since starting a few months ago, the Huskies have been reorganizing their lineup and continuing to challenge the local players. The results has been a 1-3 record so far for the Huskies, but with the recent importing of new players, Merkel hopes to improve on the team's wins.

"There are growing pains with a new team,” he said. "It's tough to watch us lose like that.”

Jan. 10 was the deadline for cards to a minimum of 15, and a maximum of 25, and Merkel has brought in some top-notch players to help out the 10-11 local players on the Huskies.

The team still remains largely made up of local players for the time being.

"We wanted to play them as long as we could, to see if they could rise up to the level,” Merkel said.

And many of them did.

"The guys are trying hard,” Merkel said. "And that's all we can ask of them.”

Merkel said they have asked the mostly rec hockey players to jump up to AAA in one year.

"In order to do that, there's certain things that we have to do,” Merkel said. "We're expecting a lot out of our hockey players.”

To help the local talent, Merkel has been shopping around for a few players to join the Huskies to make them more competitive at the AAA level.

"We've brought in a whole line of forwards,” Merkel said.

Eight new players will be coming in this weekend, including former NHL player John Craighead, who has played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks. He has also spent time in the East Coast League and the American Hockey League.

Joining Craighead will be Ryan Esselmont, a veteran of the East Coast League as well. He spent time on the Victoria Salmon Kings and in the AHL.

"He's been at it for awhile,” Merkel said.

Another player to be joining the Huskies, is Kris McTice, who Merkel describes as "speedy.”

The coach has brought in about three to four defencemen to join the Huskies as well.

"It'll help our guys bring their games up,” Merkel said.

The next set of games will be Feb. 5 and 6 against the Powell River Regals at Takhini Arena. Merkel said both games are set to start at 7:30 p.m. More information will be available closer to the date.

"I'm really looking forward to this next set of games,” Merkel said, because it gives them another look at the Regals, who they will have to beat to get a run at the Allan Cup.

"If everything goes right we'll have our jerseys as well,” he said.

The Huskies will take on the Fort St. John Flyers on March 12 and 13.

The Flyers may be bringing with them former NHL player Theo Fleury, who has played for Team Canada, the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks.

Besides Fleury, the Flyers have a great team, Merkel said.

"They're a very well established team as well,” he said.

Four days after the Regals series, the final lineup must be in place for all AAA teams.

This afternoon Merkel is expecting a conference call between the Huskies management, the Powell River Regals and Fort St. John Flyers management, Hockey Canada and the B.C. Amateur Hockey Association, to discuss the format for the Allan Cup playoffs.

The Flyers get an automatic bye-in for hosting the tournament, but the Huskies and the Regals will have to play each other in a best of five series to clinch their spot.

Merkel is hoping that the series can be hosted here in Whitehorse from April 1 to 5, with all five games happening at the same time to cut costs for all of the teams involved.

"All three of us teams are in the same boat, we don't have a ton of money,” he said.

Merkel said they have been getting a great response from sponsors, with a few signing on recently.

"There's been some really good things that have happened so far,” he said.

A few of the Huskies sponsors include Northern Vision Development Corporation, the High Country Inn, the Gold Rush Inn, Air North and Cardinal Contracting.

"We want to bring good hockey to Whitehorse,” Merkel said.

The recent developments within the Huskies could mean the team is well on their way to becoming the team that could do just that.