The Superior International Junior Hockey League is getting geared up for the start of a 20 game regular season.
It all gets going in Oliver Paipoonge Friday night as the Kam River Fighting Walleye and Thunder Bay North Stars continue the Teleco Cup. The North Stars lead the eight game series with four points.
Thunder Bay North Stars
SIJHL Commissioner Darrin Nicholas says the league has been told by city officials that the Fort Williams Gardens should have ice in it by Tuesday December 1st.
“The games this weekend [Friday and Saturday night] will be played at the NorWest Arena and then [games seven and eight] will take place at the Gardens [on Friday December 4th and Saturday December 5th],” Nicholas indicates.
Fort Frances Lakers
Another team in the league that wasn’t sure where they were going to play home games were the Fort Frances Lakers. Nicholas notes the Lakers are close to a solution.
“They’ve got a different choices dotting some i’s and crossing some t’s in terms of that, but they’re eager to get going,” mentions Nicholas.
The league plans to adopt a four game co-hort to get through the 20 games and keep everyone safe. That means two teams will play a home and home over two weekends, then take a 14 day break before starting up the next co-hort. Nicholas says the Superior League will only be able to get in one co-hort before the Christmas break.
Wisconsin Lumberjacks/Thief River Falls Norskies
Darrin Nicholas notes the issue with involving the two American teams comes down to a pair of issues; the border closure and safely being able to get teams down there and back to play games.
“They’ve got a date in their back of mind [in terms of] when our playoffs are, how much time do they need to assemble a team and at what point does it make sense to call it a day. We’re not there quite yet but we’d need to see some significant movement in the next two weeks to really get excited about the prospect of them being able to join us for the [2020-2021] season” stresses Nicholas.
The remainder of the regular season schedule should be out within the next 7-10 days.
