The SIJHL is given the thumbs up to move into regular season play this weekend.
The 2020-2021 Superior International Junior Hockey League campaign gets going with the continuation of the Teleco Cup between the Kam River Fighting Walleye and the Thunder Bay North Stars Friday and Saturday night.
In Oliver Paipoonge
The Friday night game will feature the opportunity to fans to watch the game from their vehicles at the NorWest Arena.
“We’ve long been planning on our first home game being played in front of a jam packed crowd, with an incredible atmosphere,” says Fighting Walleye president Derek Geddes. “[However] with the current situation being what it is, we needed to find another way to make that happen. I think it is going to be a special night.”
The parking lot will open at 7:00 p.m. with game time set for 8:00 p.m.
Elsewhere
The Dryden GM Ice Dogs and Red Lake Miners will kick-things off Sunday and Monday at the Cochenour Arena.
The two teams will return to Dryden on December 2nd and 3rd for a rematch.
What the season will look like
- Each team will play a 20-game schedule
- It’s unknown if the two American teams (Wisconsin Lumberjacks, Thief River Falls Norskies) will be involved
- The top four will advance to the Bill Salonen Cup playoffs
- Social distancing and masking protocols will be in place, along with allowing 50 fans to watch the game
“It’s a great feeling to get to the point of getting into our regular season. It’s a little later than we had originally hoped but I know the players and teams are glad to get to this stage and are eager to play meaningful games,” says SIJHL Commissioner Darrin Nicholas. “We had a couple of issues impacting our ability to start the regular season a couple of weeks ago that have since been resolved. Also, given the non-competition periods we need to observe due to COVID-19 restrictions, it became clear that we would need to get some regular season games completed before the Christmas break or risk our schedule going too long into the spring and losing ice in some our of facilities.”
