The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings received a devastating blow on Monday evening, along with many businesses in Weyburn, as the provincial government sent word they were not approving the plans for a return-to-play for the SJHL.
鈥淚 feel so disappointed,鈥� said Red Wings team president Brent Stephanson, pointing out that this would have been a huge boost to Weyburn鈥檚 economy if this was able to go ahead, estimating this could鈥檝e brought in up to a half-million dollars with all of the restaurants, hotels, gas stations and food suppliers preparing for hosting the teams here.
The province cited the upswing in variant cases of COVID in Regina as the main reason for not allowing this plan to go ahead, and told the SJHL they could check back in two or three weeks to see if it still go ahead.
Stephanson said this would be pushing the schedule too late into the spring, with the ice set to come out of Crescent Point Place by May 15, and the governors for the SJHL made the decision to pull the plug on this season.
Up to Monday evening, Stephanson had been hoping for the teams to arrive in Weyburn by Wednesday to get set up and start playing games. Weyburn was set to be a host bubble for seven SJHL teams, with many plans in place for hosting the teams in local hotels, with arrangements made with restaurants and suppliers like Prairie Sky Co-op to make sure the teams were all taken care of.
As part of the proposal to the province, the plans included having the teams set up in hotels, and rapid testing was going to be available that would provide results in 20 minutes.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been so much work, including setting up the game schedules, and the restaurants really stepped up. They had offered us great prices on meals,鈥� said Stephanson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been two months already. I wish they could鈥檝e given us the go-ahead on Feb. 1.鈥�
The hotels had been cooperating by arranging it so only the hockey teams would have been staying there, with only players and team staff.
鈥淭he City of Weyburn has been excellent in helping us out,鈥� Stephanson noted, with plans to have foosball tables, ping pong tables and ball gloves all available for the players to use in their off times.
The players have been quarantining already, he added, as they were preparing for the start of play, and instead their season is at an end.
鈥淭hese boys put their lives on hold, this is their passion. I feel badly because some of the players had opportunities to start jobs already, especially the 20-year-olds,鈥� he said, adding this will affect their mental well-being to suddenly be pulling the plug on what they hoped was the resumption of hockey play.
鈥淗opefully in August we鈥檒l be able to start training again and start the new season,鈥� he added.
Asked if the league might make allowances for 20-year-olds, as this would鈥檝e been their last year of eligibility to play junior hockey, Stephanson said this idea was floated for last season and rejected by the governors. If they make provision for 21-year-olds in next season, 鈥渨here does it stop? That鈥檚 the worst part. Some guys have college offers on the table. 鈥� I really hope this won鈥檛 end those guys鈥� careers.鈥�
Stephanson commented he really wasn鈥檛 expecting to get this news Monday night, as he was fully expecting to start seeing the teams arrive today (Wednesday).
鈥淭he coaches have been on the phone with the government too. They thought it would go through,鈥� he said, adding this season could鈥檝e been finished by now, or close to it, if they had had the approval back on Feb. 1 like in other provinces.
