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VegasHockey

Do you think youth hockey will start on time this year?

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I have been talking to multiple associations in the US and Canada and it seems that everyone is cautious that hockey will likely not start until October or November this year. Has anyone heard otherwise? 

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So PA currently has hockey, but it is really just in-house summer league and they have lowered the number of kids per team, spread out games, limited fans, etc.  Given the rise in cases and the reality of regular season hockey I'm not overly optimistic, which sucks.  I would much rather have kept the summer ratcheted down and not ruined fall/winter.  We'll see.

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I have heard from friends in Edmonton and a few other areas in Canada that, while most associations are refraining from making any verbal or written commitments, they are probably going to start on time. Basically, in places where the numbers are low and school is anyway going to open fully, they will probably start youth hockey on time, but they're not announcing it for many and various reasons. I'm in NY and we're preparing for a move to PA soon, so we'll see. My kids are still too young for youth hockey anyhow.

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47 minutes ago, BenBreeg said:

So PA currently has hockey, but it is really just in-house summer league and they have lowered the number of kids per team, spread out games, limited fans, etc.  Given the rise in cases and the reality of regular season hockey I'm not overly optimistic, which sucks.  I would much rather have kept the summer ratcheted down and not ruined fall/winter.  We'll see.

Yea, I'm on the eastern side of PA and youth hockey is in full swing. I don't have any kids but I do coach and officiate so it will be interesting to see what happens. I know our club (Tier II Travel) has tryouts starting Sunday. And officiating assignments have been going out over the last couple of days for youth spring league. Who knows what the Fall/Winter holds for us though...

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We had players from our travel teams go to NH for tournaments this weekend. 

From The Athletic today:

"At least three players from USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program have tested positive for COVID-19, multiple sources have confirmed to The Athletic. The players had been participating in on-ice skills training at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., the venue for USA Hockey’s 2020 World Junior Summer Showcase later this month.One source close to the players said the cases have been mostly asymptomatic. Additional participants in the on-ice skills training who are not members of the USNTDP have also tested positive, according to a source.“It’s hockey players who hang out together,” said a source with knowledge of the situation. “One person got tested, found out they had it and so they all did. Though USA Hockey has since closed its rink, many others in the metro Detroit area are allowing limited skating as youth hockey and recreation leagues return to practice."

 

 

 

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Sounds about right. It's almost like you need to cycle through the "regulars" and hope that they both don't get (severely) sick and don't get sick again. Just tough to control because you know not everyone is taking the necessary precautions. 

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There's been limited ice time and the men's league is about to start up this week. Figure skating classes are starting up next week. I'm not playing summer league for different reasons.

Once summer league is over, they plan on having the regular fall-winter men's league season to start as usual. And, unless things change and they dial it back, there will be youth hockey in the fall. But the travel leagues that usually travel to neighboring states for games might change their schedule to just have intra-state games only.

Edited by caveman27

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Unless this pandemic runs its course (herd immunity) or a vaccine is released very soon I just don't see how anyone in the US is going to be playing hockey for much longer, regardless of what age or league. The covid numbers are going off the charts and at some point you are either going to have to admit that the country has given up on controlling it (and go into self isolation as best you can until it washes thru / vaccine arrives) or go back into lockdown.

When I see this kind of crap going on, I just wonder wtf... https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-us-man-dies-after-attending-covid-19-party-thinking-virus-was-a-hoax-2261601

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3 hours ago, Vet88 said:

Unless this pandemic runs its course (herd immunity) or a vaccine is released very soon I just don't see how anyone in the US is going to be playing hockey for much longer, regardless of what age or league. The covid numbers are going off the charts and at some point you are either going to have to admit that the country has given up on controlling it (and go into self isolation as best you can until it washes thru / vaccine arrives) or go back into lockdown.

When I see this kind of crap going on, I just wonder wtf... https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-us-man-dies-after-attending-covid-19-party-thinking-virus-was-a-hoax-2261601

One of the problems is that given the math, it takes a small percentage of people to drive the number up.  State by state the numbers vary widely but still on the rise most places.

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I'm interested to hear how things are progressing?  We are moving forward, as if the season is a go.  First tournament already cancelled due to being in Connecticut and so many states being banned.  I should qualify, I don't know if the tournament was cancelled or we are just not going.  That said, scheduled to be in Pittsburgh in 2 weeks, guess we'll see. 

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Back to school will be the determining factor.  If numbers spike that will be the driver and youth sports will feel the effects.  And since kids from so many different school districts play in the same organizations it won't take much for it to make its way into the teams.

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It will be tough to go off of school reopening because not every school will physically open its doors. I know the school district is at least starting the year with online learning. I'm more interested in how the PIAA will handle its scholastic sports. Fall sports is right around the corner but who knows how many kids will play IF scholastic sports start on time.

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Most schools around here have at least hybrid options, a few private schools are 5 days a week and kids with IEPs can do full-time.  PIAA can do whatever it wants to start but if things spike the decision may be taken out of their hands.

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I hear you. Those pushing to play PIAA sports, I assume waivers will be decimated amongst participants. I'd imagine hybrid is an option around the Philadelphia area but I don't know enough parents to know what is going on here. I still haven't heard what our high school hockey leagues are doing yet. 

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Our High School sports are going and have been for over a month.  We started school 2 weeks ago, kids all given an option of in school/hybrid/online.  Kids don't really have to lock into one option, it's kind of fluid.

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CA is delaying tryouts until October 

As a result of recent updates with respect to governmental restrictions on youth sports activities, CAHA is pushing the CAHA permitted tryout calendar for on-ice tryouts as follows;
- Tier 1 not earlier than 10/1
- Tier 2 not earlier than 10/5
- A / BB / B / HS not earlier than 10/8

WA is moving forward with tryouts but I don't understand how they think they will be having a season until January considering they are only in Phase II currently and Phase II and III are extremely restrictive. There will not be any normal practices and games until Phase IV. Even the WHL has pushed their season start date to December and I am hearing they are now discussing January as a potential start date. 

Arizona things seem normal, same with Nevada. 

I am not into politics, but it does seem red states are moving along and will likely have a somewhat normal season while blue states will be delayed. 

Edited by SkateWorksPNW

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Our travel teams are practicing only during the month of September. Some T1 teams have gone to NH for tournaments. Scheduling games for October is tentative. Our rink is tightening protocols for September - temp checks at door, no parents inside for Peewee and older practices(watch on Live Barn if you HAVE to watch your kid practice), no locker rooms, dress outside. If this is what it takes to keep the rinks open, I support it. With Atlantic District T1 going into Maryland and Pennsylvania, it only takes one state going hot to screw things up. 

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6 minutes ago, DarkStar50 said:

Our travel teams are practicing only during the month of September. Some T1 teams have gone to NH for tournaments. Scheduling games for October is tentative. Our rink is tightening protocols for September - temp checks at door, no parents inside for Peewee and older practices(watch on Live Barn if you HAVE to watch your kid practice), no locker rooms, dress outside. If this is what it takes to keep the rinks open, I support it. With Atlantic District T1 going into Maryland and Pennsylvania, it only takes one state going hot to screw things up. 

That's the concern right there. I still remember back in March when USA Hockey cancelled the rest of the season. I was suppose to ref T1 Districts up in Hackensack for 16U & 18U that weekend leading up to St. Patty's Day. The amount those kids travel, there's no telling who they interact and who has what. Let's just hope these states (both in our district and its surrounding states) continue to play things safe. Things are calm now because not much is going on. It'll be interesting to see where things are by Halloween. 

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Howdy,

Yep, taking the year off from reffing here too.  Luckily my family is in a position where that income was never the primary factor in reffing, so it just made sense for me to take a break during a pandemic.

Mark

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2 hours ago, marka said:

Howdy,

Yep, taking the year off from reffing here too.  Luckily my family is in a position where that income was never the primary factor in reffing, so it just made sense for me to take a break during a pandemic.

Mark

Yea, I'm in the same boat. I mean I have student loans to pay off but I never lost my full-time job (been working from home since mid-March). Stinks being away from hockey but there are too many IFs for me to step out on the ice as a player or an official. Still on the fence about coaching.

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