If there is a 2020-21 St. John’s Junior Hockey League season, it won’t start until January, 2021, “at the very earliest,” says league president Mark Noseworthy.
The league held a meeting Wednesday night with representatives from each of the nine teams.
“If you’re in the box and I get a penalty, and your penalty has not expired, the way rules are written now is the team which was penalized against gets a penalty shot, and the player who was in penalty box gets out, and the player who just picked up the penalty goes in. So you only have one guy in penalty box at a time. It’s all a mess.”
Will there be a junior hockey circuit this upcoming hockey season, Noseworthy was asked?
“Good question,” he said. “We have to submit a Return to Play proposal to Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador, which will in turn either agree or disagree.
“The biggest obstacle we have now in several rinks is based on the social distancing rules that are in place. We can’t play anything more than two-line hockey, which we’re not interested in doing.”
According to the provincial government’s Arena Operations Guidance throughout the pandemic, “the potential risk of COVID-19 spread is highest when individuals are indoors, within two metres of each other, for more than 15 minutes, in a small space with limited ventilation, sharing equipment or food, and/or taking deep breaths (e.g. while singing, shouting or exercising).
“Therefore, recreational activities and sports occurring indoors and/or in close proximity to others, are considered higher risk.”
As a result, a minimum of two metres or six feet between athletes should be maintained at all times, in both on- and off-ice spaces. That includes the players’ benches.
“By doing that,” said Noseworthy, “you can only put five or six people on the bench, depending on the size of the bench in a particular rink. In order to do that, you can only play two-line hockey.
“Plus you can’t use the penalty boxes right now based on the rules in place for social distancing as well.”
“If you’re in the box,” said Noseworthy, “and I get a penalty, and your penalty has not expired, the way rules are written now is the team which was penalized against gets a penalty shot, and the player who was in penalty box gets out, and the player who just picked up the penalty goes in.
“So you only have one guy in penalty box at a time.
“It’s all a mess.”
High school hockey in the metro arena is going with the two-line format, which uses only 10 skaters and two goalies.
The five-team Newfoundland and Labrador U18 Major Hockey League (formerly Newfoundland and Labrador Major Midget Hockey League) received approval to start its 2020-21 season earlier this month.
The league is the only province-wide hockey circuit, with two teams in metro St. John’s, and one each in the Tri-Pen, Central and Western regions.
“It’s my understanding,” Noseworthy said, “the Chief Medical Officer’s office gave the (U18) league an exemption based on the fact they say that league showcases kids to go away to the next level.
“And they have to pull up a mask over their face when on the bench or in the penalty box. Whether we will get approval for that, we don’t know.”
Junior hockey last season, which was cut short in March, started in the month of September.
Why so late this year getting a Return to Play proposal in to Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador?
“We don’t think we’re going to get approval anyway,” Noseworthy said. “The reason we are so late is, with the social distancing rules, we made a decision as a league that if we can’t go back and play full hockey the way we always have played, we’re not playing at all.
“Right now, with four of the nine rinks we use, even if we got approval to go back, we have to follow the guidelines that are in place for the rinks, and we can’t play anyway because those rinks won’t let us have more than two lines anyway.
“The U18 Major league tried to go to Mount Pearl and Paradise. They got turned down. They’re (Pinnacle Growlers and East Coast Blizzard) playing at the Southern Shore Arena.”
Robin Short is the sports editor of The Telegram.
