Tiger Hills Hockey League prepares for return

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This article was published 12/10/2020 (2000 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not only will the Tiger Hills Hockey League be playing hockey this winter, they’re actually expanding.

The 14-team loop welcomed the Virden Oil Kings this summer after they moved from the North Central Hockey League. Tiger Hills president Brian Franklin said it’s nice to even out the league’s setup as it looks to begin play sometime in the next month.

“It gives us 14 teams and allows us to have two divisions,” Franklin said. “It’s very good. Virden has an excellent facility there so it will certainly be an attraction for teams going in.”

Last season, the Neepawa Farmers and Boissevain Border Kings were preparing to face off in Game 1 on March 13 in the best-of-five league final, when the pandemic forced Hockey Canada and Hockey Manitoba to suspend cancel all sanctioned games.

Franklin admitted he wasn’t sure if the league would be back in action for the 2020-21 season when the team representatives met recently to form a plan.

“Even the night of the meeting, I wasn’t quite sure what the result was going to be,” Franklin said. “Once we went around the table, all the teams wanted to play.”

Franklin said there was a variety of opinions as the teams discussed the return to play, however. A handful were looking for a normal 18-game schedule.

“It just came down a majority of the teams and what they wanted,” Franklin said. “We decided on 12 games. We likely had, out of the 14 teams, about four that indicated they would like to have the 18 games and some interlocking games but the majority wanted, if at all possible, to err on the side on the safety, keeping COVID in mind and the facility restrictions in mind and go with 12 games.

“The other reason is that with 12 games it allows you some time if there is a postponement due to sickness or whatever, at least you have some room in the schedule to make up games.”

The league, which first played in the 1983-84 season, has come up with a unique solution to the vexing problem of reducing its COVID-19 exposure.

Each team will play a home-and-home series against the other six teams in its division. Every team will make the playoffs, with the two divisions not playing any interlocking games until the final.

The Eastern Division will feature the Cartwright Clippers (11-7-0-0, first in division last season), MacGregor Wild (11-7-0-0, second), Gladstone Lakers (10-8-0-0, third), Neepawa (9-8-1-0, fourth), Minnedosa Bombers (8-10-0-0, fifth), Pilot Mound Pilots (3-14-1-0, sixth) and Wawanesa Jets (6-9-3-0, fifth), which moves over from the Western Division. 

The Western Division now contains Virden (9-11-0-0 in the North Central), Boissevain (18-0-0-0, first in division), Killarney Shamrocks (15-3-0-0, second), Hartney Blues (10-7-1-0, third), Souris Elks (7-10-0-1, fourth), Deloraine Royals (5-12-1-0, sixth) and Melita Bisons (4-10-0-0, seventh).

Franklin said he was keeping an eye on senior AA baseball during the summer as the four leagues with a presence in Westman returned to action. They all started late, but only the Border Baseball League was unable to finish after players on two teams were exposed to virus carriers.

“I kept an eye on them to see what happened,” Franklin said. “Of course they were hoping to get through it. Again, it will just be a week-by-week deal. The majority of our games are going to be on the weekends so we’ll see how it goes.”

The biggest question is how crowds will be affected. Currently, it will depend on the facility, but they expect to be able to fill 30 per cent of their seats. It won’t be a major problem in the bigger buildings until the playoffs, but the smaller rinks will sell far fewer tickets.

That hurts because paid attendance is how the teams meet their obligations. There simply aren’t other significant revenue streams.

“It’s the cost of referees and et cetera and et cetera,” Franklin said. “When you’re done paying the referees, you’re looking at $300 and the only receipts they have are the gate receipts and maybe some 50-50 tickets. I would suggest there is going to have to be some fundraising done outside of the arenas to make a go of it. 

“There definitely was a concern with some of the teams, that’s for sure.”

Play is set to begin on either the last weekend in October or the first weekend in November. League vice-president Rodney White of Neepawa is currently working with the teams to set the final schedule.

Unfortunately for the North Central league, which played with eight teams last season, their issues are currently larger than just losing Virden. The Saskatchewan Hockey Association has forbidden its teams from travelling out of province, affecting the Langenburg Warriors and the Moosomin Warriors.

No announcement has been made yet on the league’s plans for the 2020-21 season.

Franklin is happy there will be Tiger Hills hockey this winter. He said it’s an important part of the fabric of the communities the league plays in.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Franklin said. “It keeps the arenas going, and in this COVID situation, people are looking for something to do and looking to get out. It’s very important. You get the minor hockey teams that look up to the senior hockey team in town so there’s doubt it’s an important aspect.” 

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