The Prince George Spruce Kings will tentatively have to wait an extra week to start its upcoming season by virtue of Dr. Bonnie Henry's latest public health order.
With COVID-19 cases spiking in B.C. for the last several weeks, the provincial health officer ordered on Thursday (Nov. 19) that sports can stay in Phase Three of viaSport's guidelines, but that travel outside their own community should be prohibited for two weeks.
The order formally ends on Dec. 7, so the BCHL has decided to postpone the start of its shortened season until Dec. 8 and to cancel the rest of its exhibition schedule.
The Spruce Kings' last preseason game was cancelled this past Saturday (Nov. 21), originally set to take place in Merritt for the fifth meeting in eight contests.
.@SpruceKings finish 4-2-0-1 in preseason play as their final exhibition game in Merritt (Nov. 21) has been cancelled via B.C.’s new public health orders | https://t.co/BTfJ4RuAGm
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) November 20, 2020
BCHL says it’ll clarify its season start with the latest restrictions ending Dec. 7 | @PGMatters https://t.co/xDsaO1QgT2
However, should Dr. Henry extend the public orders beyond the current deadline, BCHL Commissioner Chris Hebb says the league has the option to start after the holidays.
“But it is our intention to begin play once the current order expires,” he explained in a statement this morning (Nov. 23).
“Our objective from the beginning, when we worked out our COVID-19 Safety Plan with the PHO, was to allow our players to have a season, but we want to make sure it is under the safest conditions possible.”
A revised schedule for the Spruce Kings and the entire BCHL is set to be released in the coming weeks.
The league adds if players decide to go home for the holidays, they're required to follow all travel guidelines, which includes isolating for 14 days before rejoining the team.
viaSport BC's Phase Three allows teams to practice, train and have some game-play during the pandemic.
On Friday (Nov. 20), the BCHL also announced its alumni association is coming to the aid of players affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the league planning to go ahead with the 2020-21 season with no fans due to COVID-19 restrictions, players have been required to pay fees beyond billet payments in order to help fund the season.
To help offset some of those costs, the alumni association has created the Player Assistance Fund.
“We understand the difficulty that this pandemic has caused everyone, especially financially,” said BCHL Alumni Association member and former Victoria Grizzlies forward Madison Dias.
“BCHL players and their families are in a tough situation trying to make ends meet, while also trying to give their sons the best opportunity to further their hockey careers. That’s why we’ve setup a GoFundMe where people can donate money to directly help these players in this difficult time.”
Dias, who played four seasons at Cornell University, is one of four main members of the association.
Other members include former Cowichan Valley Capital and University of Notre Dame grad Shayne Taker, who went on to play in the AHL and ECHL, Derek Lee who played for Victoria and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks before playing four years at the University of Wisconsin and Jake Baker who played for four different BCHL teams and went on to play at Northern Michigan University, as well as stops in the AHL and ECHL.
Baker is currently employed in the BCHL office as co-ordinator of financial services and events.
“The BCHL was so important for me in my development as a hockey player and for me securing an education at Cornell, which has allowed me to explore opportunities beyond hockey after my playing career was done,” said Dias.
“We all want to give back to league and to the players in those communities that supported us over the years and we thought this would be a great way to accomplish that.”
- with files from Wayne Moore, Castanet
