High school hockey in limbo

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This article was published 24/09/2020 (1878 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s almost three weeks into the school year and the fate of the high school hockey season in Manitoba remains in limbo.

On Wednesday, River East Transcona School Division announced its schools would not be participating in fall semester sports, effectively eliminating River East, Miles Macdonell, Kildonan East, College Pierre-Elliot-Trudeau, Transcona and Murdoch MacKay from varsity boys play in the Winnipeg High School Hockey League.

“There’s a lot of moving parts here as to whether this is going to get off the ground,” WHSHL commissioner Dana Gordon said Thursday.

“It’s heartbreaking to say that but we’re doing everything we can, looking at it from every angle, but at the end of the day we have to make sure we’re acting responsibly and worrying about the safety of the kids.”

The WHSHL, with 37 teams in 2019-20, has also confirmed that College Louis Riel, Pinawa, Stonewall, Sanford and Vincent Massey Collegiate have opted out.

Meanwhile, Oak Park, Fort Richmond, St. John’s-Ravenscourt, Garden City, West Kildonan, Sturgeon Heights, Westwood, John Taylor, Lord Selkirk, Steinbach Regional, Lorette and Linden Christian will participate once Hockey Manitoba green-lights Phase 3 of return-to-play protocols.

Thirteen varsity boys programs have not been able to move ahead while they wait on a decision from their respective divisions, including Louis Riel School Division. LRSD is expected to announce a decision involving the remainder of its member schools this week.

“We’re still waiting for a decision to be made by some of these divisions,” added Gordon.

“We’re also getting to the point where we’re going to have to make some pretty tough decisions ourselves, based on if we have 13 teams. Everybody in our league is asking: what is the magic number for us to go? But it goes beyond that. There’s a lot of questions and uncontrollable factors we need to consider before we decide to go forward.”

Among the unresolved issues: what to do in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak in a school? What should be done in the event of quarantine and how to adjust if a school division decided to shut all extracurricular activity down mid-season?

The clock is ticking and prospective high school players will be seeking other playing options if they haven’t already.

“The drop-dead date is still dependant on the school divisions because most school divisions in the metro area have said they’re putting all their sports and extracurricular clubs in general, on hold, until Sept. 30…,” said Gordon.

“Rightfully, they have that time to make that decision. Unfortunately, AA and club (hockey) is going to be starting. If that Sept. 30 deadline isn’t adhered to by the division, some of these these teams may not have the ability (to play).”

The Winnipeg Women’s High School Hockey League faces a similar predicament.

Four schools in the 28-member league have committed to play in 2020-21 — Sturgeon Heights, Garden City, Centre scolaire Léo-Rémillard and Oak Park — while River East, Miles Macdonell, Murdoch MacKay, Transcona, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Westwood, Vincent Massey Collegiate and Lorette are out.

“Things are kind of in limbo right now, some girls teams might not have enough players,” said WWHSHL president Lynne Syrenne-Habeck. “We gave them until (Sept. 30) to give us an answer to see if we’re going to have a league or not.”

Syrenne-Habeck said the league could forge ahead with as few as six to eight teams.

Manitoba’s two other varsity boys leagues remain on hold.

The seven schools in Zone 4 Hockey League are awaiting for a decision from their respective superintendents while Corey Forbes, co-president of the Westman High School Hockey League, said a league meeting on Tuesday will lay out the plan for the 20-team loop.

Minnedosa, Rivers, Gladstone-Sandy Bay and Pine Creek have already decided to opt out.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14