IceDogs tentatively set to host games this week
The Niagara IceDogs are proceeding under the assumption they are hosting the Oshawa Generals Thursday and the Sudbury Wolves Saturday at the Meridian Centre.
The Ontario Hockey League and their board of governors conducted a meeting Wednesday morning to address the next steps in light of the recent order issued by the Government of Ontario which take effect today.
According to a brief statement posted on the league’s web site, the league reaffirmed its commitment to continue the 2021-22 OHL season. The statement also said the OHL is currently in conversation with government and public health and further updates will be posted in the near future.
“Certainly the general direction we have right now is our home games this weekend will move forward,” IceDogs general manger Joey Burke said. “It seems Oshawa and Sudbury are healthy and ready to go and we’re healthy and ready to go.”
While it appears the games will go on, they will be held in an empty arena.
“Who’s going to be allowed into the building is still being decided but it appears as of now we won’t be allowed fans,” Burke said. “The expectations are zero fans, no parents, no billets.
“How it’s going to look, how it’s going to work, we’re all working towards that as we speak.”
The IceDogs last played Dec. 16 at North Bay and Burke feels it’s imperative the league get back on the ice, even without fans in the short term.
“We’re coming off a lost season and we have seven or eight guys who could be potentially NHL draft selections, so it’s an incredibly important second half for these players and for our group and our league,” Burke said. “Where we as an organization and where we are as a league, everybody here is double or triple vaccinated and we’re strictly following the provinces Return to Play guidelines. Everything is being adhered to to the letter. If there are any symptoms players are removed and tested so we couldn’t be more on top of the health side of things.
“It’s at a point where we don’t have issues that way and it becomes for the future of the league and these players and everyone involved, we all feel we cannot pause and it’s absolutely better to keep going.”
Burke said the players are eager to get back on the ice.
“We’re trying to put the brunt of the onus on the business side in terms of figuring out the logistics on how we can proceed and everything of that nature,” he said. “On the hockey side we’re trying to maintain the mentality as much as we can of as a business as usual type of thing.
”We’re trying to get these guys ready — we made a couple of trades this week and we’re really liking the mood and feel of the dressing room right now. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been on the ice so everybody is hungry and champing at the bit to get going.”
The Canadian Hockey League was designated an elite feeder program for the professional ranks by the provincial government in their latest COVID restrictions. The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League and university sports were not classified in the elite category and are on pause for at least the next three weeks.
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