Utah Altitude Hockey Have Ceased Operations
Yesterday was a wild Monday. This past weekend the WSHL kicked off the 2021-22 season. Although they canceled and postponed games between the Bellingham Blazers and Seattle Totems days before they were going to drop the puck, the Vernal Oilers and Utah Altitude had games scheduled for October 31st, November 1st, and November 2nd.
They played game one on Halloween and the Utah Altitude Hockey club came out ahead with a 5-2 victory. The first impression was that both teams had low rosters, however, were still able to play a game. The Vernal Oilers tweeted out after the game the following.
Oilers score a 3rd to narrow the lead to 5-3 but the goal is called back and the game ends as a 5-2 loss. The boys are back for a 9am rematch tomorrow against the Altitude!
— Vernal Oilers (@VernalOilers) October 31, 2021
As you can see, after the game the Vernal Oilers were prepared to play bright and early at 9 am, but that didn’t last long. All of a sudden at 9 am MDT on Monday morning, there was no game being played between Utah and Vernal. TJHP then reached out to the home rink of the Utah Altitude Hockey organization and the following discussion was had with rink employees.
What's happening in the @WSHLHockey this morning? @VernalOilers and @utahaltitude supposed to play at 9AM. Just got off the phone with the home rink of the altitude. No game today. "Something is going on with this hockey team" WTF is happening.
— Rainer Londino-Green (@RLGIII) November 1, 2021
I don't see a hockey game being played here. pic.twitter.com/vmZp23DxIx
— Rainer Londino-Green (@RLGIII) November 1, 2021
In the above tweet from @RLGIII, you can see the Utah Olympic Oval has live webcams of the rink and at this point in time we knew that there was no game being played. The rink employee mentioned that there was no games being played and that they don’t know if they (Utah Altitude) will be here much longer. We knew something was up. Attempting to reach out to both the Utah Altitude and Vernal Oilers Coaches/GM’s, we were unable to get comment about what was taking place. We were able to talk to some sources and found out that they were having a final team meeting and ceasing operations. At this point in time, we were certain that the rumors were legit and they were going to fold and not play this 2021-22 season.
BREAKING: Hearing from sources that it is confirmed that the @utahaltitude have folded and are ceasing operations for the 2021-22 season in @WSHLHockey.
— The Junior Hockey Podcast (@JRHockeyPodcast) November 1, 2021
Moments later the Utah Altitude Hockey organization Tweeted out that they are ceasing operations and will execute trades to all contracted players.
The Western States Hockey League Is Having Issues This Year
On our weekly show, The Junior Hockey Podcast, we have been discussing the WSHL a lot recently and how we just don’t understand how this season will be successful. Within the first weekend, one of five teams drops off. Yes, this could help the remainder of the teams with having some additional players spread across the remaining 4 teams in this division, but it may not be enough players to really make a difference for some other teams.
The worst part about all of this is that we are hearing that there were potential discussions with Altitude players the night before the first game that they will be folding, so the question is, why did they play that first game? At the end of the day, it potentially hurt the Vernal Oilers with having to travel into town, get accommodations for the team for a 3 game series then find out hours before the game that they need to pack up and head home. Just doesn’t sit right.
Given the current circumstance in the WSHL, the only thing I hope is that players are either traded and the tuition they paid the Altitude goes with them or they are given a refund for already paid tuitions. Tuition is not cheap and these players deserve to be refunded. We will continue to follow this story and make sure that each player is taken care of and lands in a good organization that allows them to play and develop.
