As COVID cases continue to rise all across North America, we’re seeing junior hockey leagues come to a halt at an alarming rate. We just saw the QMJHL and SJHL pause operations until January 3., the VIJHL has paused their season until further notice, and British Colombia teams are now being forced to divide their teams by age. While we look for some sort of normalcy in sports, bubbles might be the best option for moving forward.
Give Us More Bubbles
We saw how well bubbles worked in the NHL and NBA seasons and the World Juniors have one scheduled in Edmonton with only a minor hiccup to date. Bubbles have helped keep outsiders away to ensure everyone inside is healthy and negative from COVID. Most recently, the USPHL announced they’ll be creating a bubble at the AdventHealth Center Ice just outside of Tampa, Florida.
“It just seems with all the starts and stops this season this was the best chance to get the players playing on a consistent basis. It’s exciting. It’s a great idea after watching how successful the NHL was doing it,”
said Twin City Thunder co-owner, Dan Hodge.
As different states in different leagues struggle to keep seasons going with changing COVID restrictions, a bubble seems like the best and only option remaining to keep the 2020-21 season alive. It’s also a better fan and scout experience because there are less travel and more opportunity to see players. Once the USPHL bubble begins in early January, it will be interesting to see if other leagues follow suit.
Junior Hockey Teams Forced Split
Due to orders from the British Colombia government, all junior hockey teams who have players over 18 years old will be deemed no longer eligible. The order allows players up to age 18 to continue playing, but 19 and 20-year-olds can no longer participate.
The reason behind this decision is because 19 and 20-year-olds are going out after practice, games, socially, and drinking and socializing. Many coaches and office personnel from different leagues are calling the order ridiculous and outrageous. Essentially, the government is comparing beer leagues to junior hockey leagues because players can drink.
Although there won’t be much impact felt because leagues have not played games since November 19, practices will be much different for teams. Keep in mind, many teams who have older players on their roster live with younger players, meaning, they’ll still be in close contact and the order is essentially pointless.
U.S. National Junior Team Releases Preliminary Roster
29 players were recently included in the preliminary roster for the 2021 National Junior Team, 10 of whom are returning from the 2020 team. There are still four cuts to be made by December 13 to get down to the 25-man roster required for the World Juniors.
“We have a talented group and we’ll have some tough decisions to make. We continue to benefit from a deep player pool and that’s credit to all of the organizations and volunteers developing the next wave of American talent,”
said General Manager of the 2021 U.S. National Junior Team, John Vanbiesbrouck.
For a full list of all 29 players currently on the roster.
What are your thoughts on other leagues moving forward with a bubble? If they’ve already proven to be effective and useful, why haven’t more leagues adopted them? As for the 19 and 20-year-olds who are no longer eligible to play with their teams, it’s only a matter of time before that order changes back. If the majority of players are already living together, what good does the order do?
Be sure to check back next week for the latest and greatest junior hockey news. Check us out on Twitter @TJHP and @Nwinansw. We’ll see you next week.
