In a normal year, the Orillia Terriers Jr. C hockey club would be entering the second round of the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) playoffs.
But these are not normal times. And, at least for now, the team continues to wait for the puck to drop on a season that now seems destined to be cancelled.
The Terriers will return to the ice Saturday for practice; it will be the first time players have skated together since the province went into lockdown on Dec. 26.
“Because we are in the province's red zone, we will resume skating in groups of 10 on Saturday, and continue to wait for the word,” said Terriers head coach Dallyn Telford.
Limiting practice to groups of 10 means Terriers coaching staff will be working with players on mostly skill development, but at this point, they are just happy to be returning to the ice.
While the PJHL season has not been officially ruled out, Telford says the team is starting to look toward 2022.
“At the end of the day we are running out of time. It’s winding down, I’m afraid, and I would say it doesn’t look good for a season or anything resembling a season,” he said.
However, the team hasn’t completely lost all hope and given up on potentially playing hockey later this spring.
“I think you always have to keep hope alive until we get the official word that it’s done. I would assume that word is coming as we are so late into the year now.”
On top of the COVID-19 pandemic, playing into the spring would present obvious challenges that make a possible season look bleak. One of those challenges is that most municipalities are preparing to remove their ice in the coming weeks for lacrosse season.
“It’s obviously disappointing. I felt that we had a really good group this year, with a good mix of youth and a good mix of age; we had a real energy group who all got along well together,” Telford said.
If the provincial government gives the PJHL the green light to start playing games in the coming weeks, Telford said he would be hopeful for a playoff-style tournament to resemble playoff action.
“For sure that’s a possibility, but we have to get to a level with the health department that allows us to do that. If we get to the orange zone and we are allowed to do that, it would be great. It’s something that is definitely on the table, so we will see,” Telford said.
The biggest reason for keeping at least some hope alive for Terriers management is because of their desire to reward the players who have remained positive during the pandemic.
“Our guys have shown up to practice every night we asked them to, and they have given their best effort without knowing if we are going to have a season or not, which isn’t an easy thing to do for those guys. To reward them with something like that would be great,” Telford said.
