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For the second straight season, the Canalta Cup won’t be awarded in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).
In a tweet posted just before noon Tuesday, the league said the 2020-21 season will “not have an ending.”
“A decision by Saskatchewan Government and Health has been made on the submissions that have been before them, unfortunately the SJHL will not be allowed to return to play,” the statement supplied by SJHL President Bill Chow reads.
“In part the current conditions of COVID-19 in the Province of Saskatchewan do not appear to allow a return to play, now or in the next few weeks.”
— SJHL (@theSJHL) March 23, 2021
650 CKOM learned the league’s request was denied due to “current circumstances” with COVID.
Earlier on Tuesday, some now-former players within the league voiced their displeasure with losing out on their final seasons, such as Humboldt Broncos forward Luke Spadafora.
What a ride. ✌️ @SKGov pic.twitter.com/bi3t8dH6ud
— Luke Spadafora (@lukespads) March 23, 2021
On Jan. 15, the province announced it would be giving the league $1 million, to be split between all 12 teams and the league office. Chow confirmed the funds wouldn’t be affected by the shutdown.
The 2020-21 season for the SJHL began, but on Nov. 25, the league announced it was pausing the campaign due to measures the provincial government enacted to stop the spread of COVID-19.
SJHL president talks league shutdown, player eligibility, revenue losses
Around an hour following the news of the league’s shutdown, Chow spoke to 650 CKOM on the decision.
“Our process was pretty, in my mind, straightforward. We had been obviously talking (with the province) off and on since November when the season was halted,” he said. “When the Western Hockey League was approved, we utilized our relationship with the WHL to obtain their submission and we utilized as much information in that to create our submission.
“We had some different scenarios, situations as to our accommodations and things like that.”
Chow said the plan was put in place to return to play in the City of Weyburn, but those requests were denied.
“The Weyburn Red Wing organization did a lot of work on the ground there. Working with their local businesses and local hotels in trying to create that situation. That’s where it was going to be,” he said, before adding that the teams were prepared to get back on the ice.
“The players were isolating at their own home residences.”
In terms of revenue loss, Chow said the league lost out on around $400,000 this season. The loss of expenses did help overall, but he had a hopeful outlook on teams continuing in the league.
“I think, hopefully, all teams will be back next year,” he said.
The president said he’d let individual teams talk about their own expenses, saying it wouldn’t be fair to ballpark their numbers based on every team’s differences with the way they operate.
In junior hockey, players are considered overage at 20 years old. Teams are allowed eight overage players in the SJHL.
Chow explains that there were hopes of providing overage players an extra year of eligibility for next season.
“There were some discussions (but) that would have to go through Sask Hockey, as well as Hockey Canada and at the CJHL level. It’s not just an SJHL decision. There was talk, but that won’t happen,” he said.
Chow said the shutdown is tough on all involved, but none more than those on the ice and behind the bench.
“The empathy is towards the players and the coaches … they have been in a tug of war of playing, not playing. returning to play, hopefully returning to play, since November. Basically, for two years they’ve been in this tug of war. They plan to participate and then they have to unplan,” he said.
When it comes to why the submission was denied, Chow said there were additional factors that they couldn’t control.
“Based on where the vaccine is currently and the variants that are in and around the province, I think had a lot to do with the decision not to allow the SJHL to return,” he said.
The SJHL will now turn its focus for a return to the ice in September of 2021.
‘It’s a bit mind-boggling:’ Weyburn head coach not happy with decision
Weyburn head coach Rich Pilon joined the Green Zone with Jamie Nye on Tuesday to speak about the end of the season, along with the proposed bubble-style hub model for the league.
He said when the WHL’s East Division hub in Regina was given the green light, he thought the SJHL was next.
“I didn’t think we had to worry too much, just being that the WHL was basically going in the backyard an hour away from Weyburn here. The difference in our proposal, we were staying in a hotel. We had one hotel takeover, we had a full lockdown of the rink — the message we got back was pretty grey, and I’m not sure what to think,” he said.
“We had testing all in place. There’s a few unanswered questions … For myself, I thought for sure it would be a done deal.”
He said the province told the league the answer was no unless it wanted to wait another two or three weeks.
“Which is basically pretty near impossible to ask facilities to stay open. What are you going to do with these kids for three weeks that have already put themselves in a position to play in?” he said. “The grey area for me is where did we go wrong? Or what happened to the point that we are not allowed to play?”
Pilon said hotels, local businesses, city council and amenities in Weyburn were readying for the hub. He added the players would be tested twice with PCR tests, then tested weekly for the 44 proposed days in the hub. They would then go into full isolation for one week, with everyone having their own rooms at a local hotel.
COVID testing would also apply to game officials and coaches.
“Their answer, I guess to some degree, were the variants that were happening out of Regina. But that’s in Regina; that’s an hour away from here. We have three cases in Weyburn and area, so it’s a bit mind-boggling how we got to this point,” he said.
Another issue Pilon saw was the lack of feedback from those looking to make the decision to return to play.
“If you don’t come back with telling us what we need to fix, we can’t fix it,” he said. “Somethings missing, because it doesn’t really make any sense.
“As a group of government … you just put a group of young men through a bit of a ringer to sit back, and wait and wait … We’re trying to keep them motivated. They’re getting frustrated because we don’t have an answer. If you didn’t want this to go, you should have said it a month and a half ago.”
Pilon said there isn’t a set template for a hub model, but still questions why the WHL was permitted to take that route and not the SJHL.
“We’re both junior hockey. What separated them from getting $3 million and we got $1 million through 12 teams? Tell me why that’s got to be like that … Why are they allowed to play and why are we not allowed to play? There’s something that’s not right, there’s something that’s been missed, and I’m not sure what it is,” he said.
“You’ve got young men that believe they were going somewhere, to a skill they need to pursue in school to use hockey as a vehicle to get along in life. Somebody just said no to them, that they can’t do that anymore.”