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I am genuinely curious what the feeling is from people on whether there is going to be hockey this fall either amateur or high school.  I just cannot see it happening in this political climate and the way things are going.  It just seems impossible and makes me wonder if it is worth paying all these non-refundable tryout and commitment fees.

Edited by sutton
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No one has a definite answer on that. There is not a single thing that you can do right now that doesn't have more risk than usual attached to it. I will probably look into travel insurance. I used it once when my kid sustained an injury in soccer one season to get back league fees. The organization wasn't out my money, which they use to operate, and I got my money back. 

The bigger risk is going to a tournament I think. A lot of those for profit companies are shady in good times. Add in constantly changing quarantine rules, and you won't know when you might be asked to stay home.

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The only thing that is certain is continued uncertainty. Our family is all in with a school team, two PAHL teams and an independent team. We believe the independent team is the most at risk due to the out of area travel. Yes, we are definitely taking a financial risk, but that is a choice each family has to decide if they are willing and able to make. 

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Yes. Too much uncertainty to be comfortable. I wish USA Hockey would step up and create a more defined approach to staring up. We could start with practices focused on individual skills only, with the hope that they could get into more team oriented practices by mid-fall. It would just depend on local transmission rates being below a certain threshold. Postpone all travel games until the start of 2021. They should be open to participants opting out at any point and receiving a partial refund since some may become uncomfortable about how their organization is following these guidelines.

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2 hours ago, sutton said:

I am genuinely curious what the feeling is from people on whether there is going to be hockey this fall either amateur or high school.  I just cannot see it happening in this political climate and the way things are going.  It just seems impossible and makes me wonder if it is worth paying all these non-refundable tryout and commitment fees.

Nobody knows. My guess is local pihl and Pahl will happen, travel won’t. Just my opinion. 

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19 minutes ago, Quinlan2020 said:

Yes. Too much uncertainty to be comfortable. I wish USA Hockey would step up and create a more defined approach to staring up. We could start with practices focused on individual skills only, with the hope that they could get into more team oriented practices by mid-fall. It would just depend on local transmission rates being below a certain threshold. Postpone all travel games until the start of 2021. They should be open to participants opting out at any point and receiving a partial refund since some may become uncomfortable about how their organization is following these guidelines.

The only thing is, how can USA Hockey make a more defined approach to the start up? The biggest risk isn't that USAH will shut down the season. The biggest risk is that the Governor will. USAH can't do anything to prevent, or predict, that. Left to its own devices, it is certain that the hockey world would play, right? Everyone wants to play, and there's a huge amount of money involved. Total cancellation of a season would likely spell the end of a few rinks in our area.

The thing about opting out at any point is really difficult. How would an organization plan for that possibility? How could they know what their costs will be, and their income, so that they can sustain such an option? I know the organization we are part of has been privately discussing the possibility of prorated refunds, but it's hard to see how they'll pay them and remain solvent. It's a very difficult situation.

What you described is, as far as I can tell, what Massachusetts is planning to do. But that all doesn't make a hill of beans of difference if the government decides we can't have practices at all, no matter if that decision is justified or not.

@Danner27 is thinking along the same lines I am in his post above.

Edited by Lifelongbender
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12 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

Nobody knows. My guess is local pihl and Pahl will happen, travel won’t. Just my opinion. 

There are a few well-known western Pennsylvania coaches who have been saying loudly that there is almost no chance that there will be a season of any kind, by the way. One of them said as much directly to me. They may, or may not, have insider information. 

Edited by Lifelongbender
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2 hours ago, Lifelongbender said:

The only thing is, how can USA Hockey make a more defined approach to the start up? The biggest risk isn't that USAH will shut down the season. The biggest risk is that the Governor will. USAH can't do anything to prevent, or predict, that. Left to its own devices, it is certain that the hockey world would play, right? Everyone wants to play, and there's a huge amount of money involved. Total cancellation of a season would likely spell the end of a few rinks in our area.

The thing about opting out at any point is really difficult. How would an organization plan for that possibility? How could they know what their costs will be, and their income, so that they can sustain such an option? I know the organization we are part of has been privately discussing the possibility of prorated refunds, but it's hard to see how they'll pay them and remain solvent. It's a very difficult situation.

What you described is, as far as I can tell, what Massachusetts is planning to do. But that all doesn't make a hill of beans of difference if the government decides we can't have practices at all, no matter if that decision is justified or not.

@Danner27 is thinking along the same lines I am in his post above.

All good points in response to my post. It's very complicated. I'm thinking that a more defined plan to safely play would make it less likely for the governor to get involved. There are many reluctant to play for various reasons but one of them is financial. I don't know what the solution is. Planning without committed funds is very hard, but life, in general, is hard to plan at this point. Many of us don't even know if we'll have jobs that enable us to pay for things such as hockey. As far as safety goes.... I would feel comfortable participating in a phased approach where we were guaranteed a couple of months of individual skills only. We would then decide if circumstances looked good to allow for more team-oriented drills. That seems like a conservative approach that would show local/state officials that youth hockey was conscientious enough to handle this as an organization. 

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39 minutes ago, BeaverFalls said:

I think when parents realize they’ll be making the 2-3 hour commute to the outer lying rinks to sit in parking lot and watch on livebarn if they’re lucky, they’ll be issues. 

I don't know. You may be right, but people are happy to have it. Games can be watched later, too. My kid is doing all kinds of weird things to play football (or rather, not really play football) but he has 0 complaints. He is happy to see his friends and get something normalish. So much is really out of everyone's hands right now. Whether people agree or not I hope everyone complies, because if we get outbreaks and it is learned there was widespread non-compliance it will be shut down. And life is so much better with my kids able to be active and social a little.

Edited by Saucey
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19 hours ago, Quinlan2020 said:

Yes. Too much uncertainty to be comfortable. I wish USA Hockey would step up and create a more defined approach to staring up. We could start with practices focused on individual skills only, with the hope that they could get into more team oriented practices by mid-fall. It would just depend on local transmission rates being below a certain threshold. Postpone all travel games until the start of 2021. They should be open to participants opting out at any point and receiving a partial refund since some may become uncomfortable about how their organization is following these guidelines.

What rink are you out of? I have been to 4 or 5 already that have all been business as usual with tryouts, teams already practicing, and even summer league games.

board of directors were given the status updates on the season starting and to be in contact with the rinks moving forward. That’s who will be the ones to close things up first.

Things are in place, maybe your organization is not communications like the others are.

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16 hours ago, Quinlan2020 said:

All good points in response to my post. It's very complicated. I'm thinking that a more defined plan to safely play would make it less likely for the governor to get involved. There are many reluctant to play for various reasons but one of them is financial. I don't know what the solution is. Planning without committed funds is very hard, but life, in general, is hard to plan at this point. Many of us don't even know if we'll have jobs that enable us to pay for things such as hockey. As far as safety goes.... I would feel comfortable participating in a phased approach where we were guaranteed a couple of months of individual skills only. We would then decide if circumstances looked good to allow for more team-oriented drills. That seems like a conservative approach that would show local/state officials that youth hockey was conscientious enough to handle this as an organization. 

A couple of months of individual skills? Cmon now. If you are worried about the $1000 or $2000 being lost I would just find another hobby this season. Once you are back at the rink ,multiple times a week, you will see your vision is in the minority in this area.

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47 minutes ago, Saucey said:

Whether people agree or not I hope everyone complies, because if we get outbreaks and it is learned there was widespread non-compliance it will be shut down. And life is so much better with my kids able to be active and social a little.

Agree 100% with this. Whether or not masks are actually effective, and whether the government should be in the business of telling us to wear them or not, if they're required by the government as a prerequisite for returning to hockey, it's a small price to pay for the resumption of the sport. I don't like masks, I don't like wearing mine, and I strongly doubt that they are actually effective in protecting individuals, but if I have to wear one so my kids can play this sport they love, so be it.

We will see what effect there is of not requiring them when the rinks in the area who aren't (we all know who they are) get called out. I haven't been there recently, but one rink in particular has reportedly changed their tune on requiring masks recently.

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4 hours ago, hockeydadlife said:

A couple of months of individual skills? Cmon now. If you are worried about the $1000 or $2000 being lost I would just find another hobby this season. Once you are back at the rink ,multiple times a week, you will see your vision is in the minority in this area.

You're definitely correct. I am in the minority within this community. The general public, however, would prefer my proposal. And you are also right about the $1,000  - $2,000 not being a big deal to most hockey parents. Money isn't an issue for most involved in this sport. It is a wealthy demographic. There will be a few, however, that feel that this amount of money is significant. Many states reopening everything hastily is what got us into this mess with cases surging. I would hope we would learn our lesson at some point. Certain organizations can learn from these mistakes and take a more cautious approach. This will not only benefit us as a country, but also avoid being a target for mandated shutdowns. I want sports to proceed, but in a safe, sustainable manner. 

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Ask The State of MI what they are doing.

Don’t see hockey happening until next Spring hope I’m wrong.

Wolf will step in and cancel all Fall Sports RInks, PIHL, PAHL and PIAA. Lombardi didn’t have the guts to shut down fall PIAA sports making Wolf the bad guy it’s coming.

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33 minutes ago, PeterThePuck said:

Ask The State of MI what they are doing.

Don’t see hockey happening until next Spring hope I’m wrong.

Wolf will step in and cancel all Fall Sports RInks, PIHL, PAHL and PIAA. Lombardi didn’t have the guts to shut down fall PIAA sports making Wolf the bad guy it’s coming.

I think you will be right but sports has a small chance if they show that they can police themselves. That would mean taking steps that show a genuine concern for putting safety first. Having traditional practices & games right away would give the impression that the desire to play overrides that. I am not saying that is the case but perception often takes the place of reality. I, personally, do not know how far we can go before compromising safety. Nobody really knows. 

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3 hours ago, PeterThePuck said:

Ask The State of MI what they are doing.

Don’t see hockey happening until next Spring hope I’m wrong.

Wolf will step in and cancel all Fall Sports RInks, PIHL, PAHL and PIAA. Lombardi didn’t have the guts to shut down fall PIAA sports making Wolf the bad guy it’s coming.

I heard the rinks are open again ? 

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Hockey is happening right now as pointed out by several people. Unless someone other than Danner does the contact tracing to hockey the health department isn't going to shut it down. If organizations choose to do it for their own liability purposes other avenues of playing hockey will open up. 

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The state or county can shut the rinks down or impose other restrictions at any time.  That is why it is really hard for any organization (USAH, Mid-Am, PAHL, even PIAA) to come up with an overall plan.  Mid-Am and Atlantic Districts are great examples.  Mid-Am covers what, 5 states?  Being from the East, our district covers "only" three.  Now add in that the people running those organizations have ZERO knowledge or expertise to make these types of decisions and you realize how tentative the season really is.

Saw an interview the other day with reps from NFL, NBA and MLB.  At the end of the segment they asked each rep to rate their chances of finishing their season:  NFL 4 out of 10; NBA 7 out of 10; MLB 6 out of 10.  That is with isolation, quarantining, testing and hiring lots of experts.

I really want youth sports to go on, but the chances are not great.

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23 minutes ago, carroll81 said:

The state or county can shut the rinks down or impose other restrictions at any time.  That is why it is really hard for any organization (USAH, Mid-Am, PAHL, even PIAA) to come up with an overall plan.  Mid-Am and Atlantic Districts are great examples.  Mid-Am covers what, 5 states?  Being from the East, our district covers "only" three.  Now add in that the people running those organizations have ZERO knowledge or expertise to make these types of decisions and you realize how tentative the season really is.

Saw an interview the other day with reps from NFL, NBA and MLB.  At the end of the segment they asked each rep to rate their chances of finishing their season:  NFL 4 out of 10; NBA 7 out of 10; MLB 6 out of 10.  That is with isolation, quarantining, testing and hiring lots of experts.

I really want youth sports to go on, but the chances are not great.

I agree. When you see the extremes that professional sports are going, trying to make it work, it makes you wonder how youth sports will go on without any of those four items that you mention.

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So, given the situation with MLB, specifically the Marlins, what’s everyone’s thoughts on school hockey.   Do we see it in the fall or is it going to be a casualty of a Dept of Health directive in that it gets lumped in with fall sports and doesn’t happen?

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