By Jeromy Corrigan

Off-Season

Return to play task force gets BCHL back on the ice

Nov 30, 2020 | 4:38 PM

The BCHL regular season was slated to begin this week following the longest off-season in league history.

However, due to the new travel restrictions in the province that has been pushed back.

Just to get to the point of being able to return to play though was a lengthy process, one which Spruce Kings General Manager Mike Hawes was apart of.

“When Covid hit we immediately formed a return to play task force,” explained Hawes to CKPG.

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“There is about 6 or 8 of us on the task force and we constantly meet through zoom calls and we really roll with the punches.”

This includes working with the Provincial Health Office, ViaSport and B.C Hockey.

“It was very difficult to come up with a PHO approved plan for us to play exhibition games,” added Hawes.

“I can’t imagine how many hours went into it. Not just the task force, but also the league office.”

The original plan for the BCHL was to begin play at the beginning of October and have 25% fan capacity. However, that didn’t come to fruition.

As a result, the league had to come up with a plan B, which involved the BCHL playing with no fans in the stands.

The tentative start date for the BCHL season is December 8.