While the Manitoba Junior Hockey League apparently received a special exemption from Public Health to go ahead with their plans for the 2020-21 season under Covid-19 restrictions, others had remained in limbo.
Until recently.
The Capital Region Junior Hockey League received official permission to start its season after Oct. 1 on Sept. 28 — after attending a number of meetings with Hockey Manitoba, Selkirk Fishermen head coach/GM Chris Poponick said.
“I didn’t think anything was going to come out of it, especially after the City (Winnipeg) and the surrounding areas went to Code Orange,” he said.
Those surrounding areas include Selkirk. Code Orange was issued to address the sudden spike in coronavirus cases in the Winnipeg area.
“(It) does not impact any current buildings with restrictions that were already put in place,” Poponick said.
While waiting, the five Junior B teams drew up three different possible schedules, depending on when they would be allowed to start. Once the league got the go-ahead, the teams rushed to finalize a schedule, with the Fishermen playing a 32-game season beginning Oct. 10.
The players are excited.
“It turns everything up really quickly, that’s for sure,” said Poponick. “They’re going to play something meaningful now.
“I’m ordering new equipment now because I wasn’t going to pay for it if we weren’t going to play.”
The other four CRJHL squads are: the Arborg Ice Dawgs, Lundar Falcons, North Winnipeg Satellites and St. Malo Warriors.
The Fishermen started their training camp in early September and the players are already well-versed in the Covid protocols, which includes wearing masks entering and leaving the facilities where they play.
“It’s kind of painful at times because there’s so many limits,” Poponick said. “Only having 11 players in a dressing room at once is tough. And the players can only get into the rink 20 minutes before getting on the ice and have to leave the rink 20 minutes after getting off the ice.”
But the teams do not have to travel by bus very often, so they won’t have to worry about the protocols associated with that aspect.
“Our league is much smaller (than the MJHL) so we don’t usually take a bus,” Poponick said. “Cliques of players that usually hang out together ride together. So, that’s not that big of a deal.”
The Fishermen players have bought in because they are anxious to get back on the ice after the season was shut down before the playoffs last year.
“The guys have been good and are sticking to every protocol that we have,” said Poponick, whose team was in first place when the year ended so abruptly.
Despite the pandemic delays, the league is still pursuing expansion teams, Poponick said.
