By Mallorie Rast
With SHA return-to-hockey guidelines, Kindersley and area hockey fans are getting a better idea of the season–and challenges–that await them this fall.
Notable in the mid-August release from SHA is that senior, junior and minor hockey leagues games do not have sanction from the SHA. Consistent with avoiding inter-provincial and inter-community travel, teams are instead encouraged to focus on formation and practice until provincial regulations change.
Kindersley Minor Hockey President, Wade Boisjoli, says that these regulations do not affect minor hockey teams so much in their beginning stages, as they must first perform evaluations and formulate the teams, but once players are formed into their teams, that is when the association is going to feel the brunt of the no game decision.
“Hockey is a double-edged sword, on one side, you need dedicated practice and drills performance to make an effective player, but the reason why you want a good player is so that you can play a good hockey game.” Until regulations lift KMH will be wielding a single-edged sword, eagerly awaiting the “game on!” announcement.
Thanks to the two ice rinks in the Kindersley West Central Events Centre, senior, junior and minor hockey leagues are able to still accommodate the number of players enrolled in this season. Although part of the challenges are that the leagues not only have the regulations from the SHA to follow on the ice, they also have the regulations from the provincial public health order under Reopen Saskatchewan and from the Town of Kindersley to follow inside of the WCEC itself.
In order to keep everyone safe, no more than 8 children at a time can use the change rooms in the WCEC, 30 people maximize the ice space, and no more than 80 people can be in the ice rink at the same time. Thus, children in KMH can have no more than one adult accompany them during their time on the ice. “We are glad to hit the ice again, so we are just doing what we need to do in order to keep everyone safe and able to enjoy hockey,” says Boisjoli.
A closer look at our local teams sees some updates as the Kindersley Klippers traded 19-year old goalie Steven Bacovsky to the Melfort Mustangs for a Player Development Fee and Fourth Round pick in the 2021 bantam draft. The 4th Annual Girls Hockey weekend hosted by Kindersley Minor Hockey, and set for the third weekend in October filled its registration spots in under two weeks, and KMH finalized the 3-on-3 games for Atom-Peewee and Novice levels. The games will start on September 22nd and run through to October 8th and are allowed as they will run inside of mini-leagues as opposed to in between mini-leagues.
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