The Saskatchewan Hockey Association announced that all provincial championships and carded team programs have been officially cancelled, after the Saskatchewan government announced that the current slate of pandemic restrictions would extend until Jan. 15.
The hope was that with a three-week shutdown as of late November, things would begin to open up this weekend, with teams returning to league play and other activities. But with COVID-19 numbers remaining high, that became an impossibility.
The news isn’t all bad, though -- SHA executive director opened the announcement by imploring teams to continue their current limited activities in order to continue preparation for the new year.
“I want to encourage membership to continue to have your teams’ practice and focus on skill development for the minor hockey players,” McClintock said the SHA memorandum. “Let us keep our youth active for their physical and mental well-being in anticipation of being able to play games again in the new year.
“Please continue all the pre-event screening, contact tracing activities that have been in place since we have returned to the ice.”
McClintock continued by saying the decision to cancel provincials was not made lightly.
“The decision was not an easy one however at this point the SHA’s focus is simply to get everyone back to playing games in a league environment to salvage the season,” he said. “There was no way we could accommodate separate competitions within the environment we are living in. Right now, we are simply fortunate to be able to have minor hockey teams practice when you compare our situation to the two neighboring provinces who are not able to play or practice in any fashion.”
The SHA provincial playoffs feature around 250 teams from throughout the province in age categories ranging from Under-13 to Senior A. Playoffs would have begun in January and played down until provincial finals at the end of March.
For more information and updates, be sure to check out www.sha.sk.ca and follow them on social media.
