2020-21 Manitoba Bisons/CW Thread

[Hollywood3]

I found this interesting:

Despite Canada West regular season, playoff and championship events being cancelled in the aforementioned sports, conference members have been empowered to explore competitive opportunities for their student-athletes, based on the principle of regional cohort play.

Learnings from the relaunch of fall sports will be applied, as competitions are explored on a member-by-member basis through the remainder of the 2020-21 season, with hopes of paving a path for the full resumption of Canada West play in the fall of 2021.

Link: Canada West cancels multiple conference competitions, defers on others

Here's where things stand, as far as I can tell:

- NHL intends to start at some point, using TV revenue to pay for everything.

- AHL and other minor pro are question marks.

- WHL plan on a January start. Link: Western Hockey League announces plan to begin next regular season Jan. 8

- MJHL has already started. Link: MJHL | Official League Site

- SJHL is waiting 2 weeks at a time, but still has nothing firm. Link: SJHL still without season start date

- AJHL teams are playing exhibition games, but the season is TBD. Link: AJHL to play exhibition games, regular season remains on province hold

- BCJHL has "extended training camp" games until the end of October. Nothing scheduled beyond that. Link: BCHL League Site

- The ACAC continues to "explore options". They have also withdrawn from national events in other sports and teams can withdraw any time without penalty. Link: ACAC Will Continue to Explore Sport Delivery Opportunities for Winter 2021

- BCIHL has no update since June. Link: BC Intercollegiate Hockey League (Design, Hosting, Online Registration & Administration tools by esportsdesk.com)

Maybe we'll see an eclectic blend of local scheduling. Back in the day, Thunder Bay had a local 4-team league with a junior, senior, intermediate, and university team under one umbrella.

My inference is that local play is probable, travelling is improbable. Alberta and BC could easily play locally. Even the Manitoba Bisons could play the Moose, Ice, Wheat Kings, or even the MJHL All-Stars. Hopefully we'll see something!

 

[AUS Fan]

News:

 

[MiamiHockey]

I found this interesting:

Link: Canada West cancels multiple conference competitions, defers on others

- NHL intends to start at some point, using TV revenue to pay for everything.

- AHL and other minor pro are question marks.

The NHL has made it clear that a season is not viable without fans. They completed the playoffs to fulfill their contractual obligations for 2019-20, but it was a money-loser.

The AHL is not remotely viable without fans, and crossing the border will be impossible. IF the NHL starts up, we'll likely see a Taxi Squad of AHLers with those teams based out of the NHL team's arena. But we are a long ways off from fans in the stands.

I found this interesting:

Maybe we'll see an eclectic blend of local scheduling. Back in the day, Thunder Bay had a local 4-team league with a junior, senior, intermediate, and university team under one umbrella.

My inference is that local play is probable, travelling is improbable. Alberta and BC could easily play locally. Even the Manitoba Bisons could play the Moose, Ice, Wheat Kings, or even the MJHL All-Stars. Hopefully we'll see something!

That's quite the range of talent there, from a weak Jr. A league to players on the cusp of the NHL.

Outside of perhaps the MJHL, those teams would rather do high-quality training than play meaningless exhibition games against such an eclectic range of talent.

What's more likely to occur is - as happens every off-season - informal groups of local players will get together for some fun 4-on-4 skates to add to their regular training.

 

[Hollywood3]

Nov 1: CW Teams Will Play!

Finally, some news about hockey games has broken out!

The Team Canada Junior camp is starting earlier than usual (Nov 16th) because the likelihood is that none of the players will have played any games prior to camp. And blended into the camp are SIX games against CW teams, the Evil Monkeys, Bedrock U, and the Bluegars. The Monkeys' games are November 28th and 29th. TC will have 46 players in camp, meaning that their three inter-squad games will be with full rosters.

At one of the links, the games against the Evil Monkeys are to be on national TV.

In 2011, Alberta beat Team Denmark 5-0 and 8-3 in a pair of games. And in 2012 they beat Team Canada 4-1. Meanwhile, Calgary beat TC 6-4 in 1988, combined with Lethbridge to win 5-4 in 2006 and lose 7-4 in 2011, and combined with Lethbridge and MRU to lose 2-0 in 2012.

Since CIS/USports nation-wide all-stars have participated in this series starting in 2015, the university team has a 6-5 edge over the junior team.

Links:
➤ Global: U of A Golden Bears to tangle on the ice with Team Canada in Red Deer
➤ USports: Hockey Canada | U SPORTS All-Stars to play six games at National Junior Team Sport Chek Selection Camp
➤ Hockey Canada: Hockey Canada invites 46 players to National Junior Team Sport Chek Selection Camp
➤ U of C (2011): Canada's juniors top Dinos, Horns
➤ U of C (2012): Team Canada blanks Canada West squad
➤ Sportsnet (2012): University of Alberta beats Canada’s juniors

The pre-season "Captains' Cup" in British California has been expanded to be a double round-robin event to be hosted by TWU. UBC and SFU will also take part.

2020 Captains Cup – Schedule
Nov. 12 (Thurs.) – UBC vs. SFU – 12 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 13 (Fri.) – SFU vs. TWU – 1 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 19 (Thurs.) – TWU vs. UBC – 12 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 20 (Fri.) – UBC vs. TWU – 1 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 26 (Thurs.) – SFU vs. UBC – 12 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 27 (Fri.) – TWU vs. SFU – 1 p.m. (PT)
Dec. 2 (Fri.) – Captains Cup Final – 1 p.m. (PT)

In other news, Holy Trinity's Koltby Johnson has started a petition for a players' voice in lockdown policies. Check the link if interested.

Links:
➤ Aldergrove Star: Captains Cup hockey series comes to Langley
➤ YouTube: TWU Page - free streaming
➤ West Central Online: Canada West Cancels Winter Sports, Local Hockey Player Organizes Petition

Not much news from the Herd. Grad Kamerin Nault has re-signed with the ECHL's Swamp Rabbits and there is a campus story about the players' lockdown lamentations.

Links:
➤ Pro Hockey News: Nault returns for third season with Swamp Rabbits
➤ Manitoban: U-Sports cancels 2021 winter term season

The Banjo Mutts have lost their goaltender to the ECHL. Taran Kozun won the USports Player-of-the-Year award in 2019-20 and his would be a great loss.

The Star-Phoenix link contains this quote:

As it stands now, any hockey player who plays pro hockey following their age-21 playing year would lose a year of eligibility and would have to sit out 365 days before playing at the U Sports level.

U Sports continues to examine this “pro-rule,” but for now there are no new guidelines in place relating to the pandemic.

I wonder if this is wishful thinking from a home-town paper or a bona fide scoop. Seems to me that preservation of amateur status would remain a big-time goal for USports and all affiliated conferences. Also, Kozun is 26 years old and if he wants a pro career, he had better get going. He did a redshirt season at the start of his university days already, and has nothing left to prove at the university level.

Links:
➤ Star-Phoenix: U Sports hockey players stuck in practice limbo, Kozun explores pro options
➤ CKOM: U of S Huskies goaltender Taran Kozun signs with Calgary Flames ECHL affiliate
➤ Northeast Now: Nipawin’s Kozun signs contract with ECHL’s Mavericks

There are a few stories around Ontario campuses. More lockdown lamentations from UWO and Brock, and a safety study from Nipissing. The study is on "mouthguard and throat protector compliance" in the NOJHL. Not a bad idea.

Links:
➤ My Espanola Now: NOJHL players from 2019-20 invited to take part in Nipissing U. research study
➤ Western Gazette: Editorial: Sports shutdown justified, but hard blow for athletes
➤ Brock Press: OUA officially cancels 2020-21 winter sports season

With a lot of action now scheduled for three of the four Saudi Alberta CW teams, the ACAC optimism is hard to dismiss. The ACAC teams will not take part in CCAA competitions in other sports. Concordia Edmonton will not be taking part in this ACAC season. Teams face no penalties for withdrawal in 2020-21.

Links:
➤ Global: ACAC to explore options to conduct post-secondary athletics this winter and spring

 

[jetsmooseice]

Is Wayne Fleming Arena at least open for Bison players to skate regularly the same way that many of the WHL guys in town have been skating at The Rink, at least before they started heading off to Jr. A clubs and to Europe?

 

[Hollywood3]

Is Wayne Fleming Arena at least open for Bison players to skate regularly the same way that many of the WHL guys in town have been skating at The Rink, at least before they started heading off to Jr. A clubs and to Europe?

I believe so but I'm not 100% given the latest restrictions.

 

[Hollywood3]

Is Wayne Fleming Arena at least open for Bison players to skate regularly the same way that many of the WHL guys in town have been skating at The Rink, at least before they started heading off to Jr. A clubs and to Europe?

As of Monday all U of M athletic facilities are closed for 2 weeks.

 

[MiamiHockey]

COVID Outbreak at Mount Royal ...

COVID-19 outbreak hits Mount Royal University men's hockey team - Sportsnet.ca

 

[mikeandI]

COVID Outbreak at Mount Royal ...

COVID-19 outbreak hits Mount Royal University men's hockey team - Sportsnet.ca

Oh boy
That’s a big setback!!