THUNDER BAY – The remainder of the Superior International Junior Hockey League season has been cancelled.
The board of governors made the difficult decision, stating the return to Grey-Lockdown and the uncertainty of when the District of Thunder Bay will return to Orange or Yellow and the ability to play games as the driving factor behind the move.
League commissioner Darrin Nicholas said the league has never sought exemptions from public health guidelines, but the stark reality is the District of Thunder Bay and the Northwestern Health Unit’s catchment area, which includes Ear Falls, Dryden, Fort Frances and Kenora, are trending in the wrong direction when it comes to active COVID-19 cases.
Nicholas said the league tried its best to hold a season, but with Thunder Bay teams unable to play and teams not wanting to fly in the face of travel restrictions and recommendations, they were left with no choice.
“The 2020-21 SIJHL season will be remembered as a roller-coaster of emotions. From fear we wouldn’t even be able to start, to joy when a pathway back to the ice was available, to optimism that as we progressed conditions might allow for a return to more ‘normal’ hockey, to hope that we might just be able to continue in any fashion and now finally sadness in facing the reality of where we are today,” Nicholas said.
The first-year commissioner said team and league officials did what they could to put on a season, adding he feels terrible about the graduating players who won’t be able to finish their junior careers on the ice.
“You are without doubt part of a graduating class that has endured the most challenging time in junior hockey history. With the loss of the playoffs last season, and then the minimal return to action this year, I certainly feel your pain. Please know we did within our means to try and get you back on the ice. Always remember: tough times don’t last, tough people do,” Nicholas said.
It’s the second straight season the SIJHL will not crown a champion.
The 2019-20 campaign was stopped last March and did resume. Teams did begin the 2020-21 campaign last fall, but only eight games were played before Ontario went into a province-wide lock-down on Boxing Day.
The league’s two American teams had already ruled out of this current season.
