Shelburne Minor Hockey returning back to on ice play

Written By Brian Lockhart

After a ‘pause' of just over three weeks, hockey clubs around the province are getting back out on the ice.

Minor hockey was forced to postpone all games, practices, and hockey activities as of January 5, when restrictions were put into place by the provincial government.

As a result, arenas have been closed, leagues postponed schedules, and hockey players had to miss several regular season games.

Due to games being missed some leagues are extending the regular season to complete all games before heading into the playoffs. This means hockey will be played later in the year as leagues complete the schedule.

Other leagues will be picking up where they left off and completing the schedule as it is. For those leagues it means they will have a short season and the final standings will be determined by games played in that time frame.

That could benefit some teams while others will be disappointed as it will not allow them to move up in the standings if they were starting to win.

At the Junior level, most leagues have adjusted the schedule to at least make up for some of the missing games.

The Provincial Junior Hockey League that runs Junior C hockey in the province has released a new schedule that takes the regular season to March 6. In the Carruthers division that means each team will complete a 30 game schedule, down 12 games from a normal pre-COVID 42 game schedule.

Once division championships are complete and Leagues start the provincial playoffs, the Schmalz Cup championship will likely be played in June this year.

Shelburne Minor Hockey announced on January 22, that they would be returning to the ice as of January 31.

That means practices can get underway and games will be scheduled for February.

In keeping with current restrictions, the Centre Dufferin Recreation complex will be operating at 50 per cent capacity and new vaccine passports will be required for entry into the facility.