While the women’s high school hockey season in Winnipeg has been cancelled due to coronavirus, there will be boys high school hockey played this winter in the city amid the pandemic.
It will look very different than past years, but at least they’re playing.
The league’s numbers have dwindled significantly as a full two-thirds of the league’s usual member teams won’t be competing this season.
“It’s been a non stop roller coaster since the beginning of September,” Winnipeg High School Hockey League president Dana Gordon said.
The league will drop the puck on their new season on Monday with one game on the opening-day schedule. But with some school divisions cancelling all sports, what was a 36-team league last season is down to just 12 teams this season.
“Those are the teams that were given permission by either their school division or their school administrations to participate,” Gordon said. “There’s been a lot of question marks, there’s been so many variables that we cannot control as a league because our teams are essentially owned by schools.
“Also with the never-ending roller coaster of the pandemic we never know what is going to hit us next, or what the next steps are gonna be. So working within those parameters we’re pretty excited that we’ve actually got a product to put out there so the kids can have a chance to play hockey.”
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It’ll still be a typical 24-game season, with the playoffs to start a month later than normal. But like other leagues, each team will only play one other team during a two-week period, with three straight games against the same opponent.
“Should one of the schools have a case tied back to a hockey team, we only have one school that we really have to make sure we’re worrying about,” she said. “As opposed to past years where you’ve played three or four teams in maybe a nine or ten day period.”
And while some games will have fans in the stands with the 25 per cent capacity limit, others will have no spectators at all.
“Schools have the option to do whatever they feel they want to do regarding spectators,” said Gordon. “I know some arenas are not allowing any spectators, and some are just following whatever the protocols are for their home rinks.”
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Schools who were in three different divisions of various skill levels last year are now grouped altogether in one division, which will probably make for a few lopsided scores. They’ve tried to combat that with an unbalanced schedule, but it’s a necessary evil to play hockey this winter.
“That’s just the way it’s gonna be,” Gordon said. “Not everybody is playing everybody.”
“Of course it’s a concern. Unfortunately there’s really not much we could do about changing it, because the smaller divisions you make — if schools end up opting out or having to remove themselves, you could end up with a division of two teams.”
The West Kildonan Wolverines will face the Lorette Scorpions to open the WHSHL schedule on Monday at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex.