A new and full hockey season is -- finally -- on the horizon in the Housatonic League.
Avon Old Farms ended Salisbury’s four-year run of league titles at the end of the last full campaign in 2019-20, but the latter club got the last laugh as Elite 8 champions just days before the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to the sports world.
The pandemic severely impacted last winter’s plans, though the two rivals were among the New England programs that played a good amount of hockey.
“We were on the ice and in the weight room a lot with the kids, and then we were still able to play 15 games,” Salisbury coach Andrew Will said of a year gone by during which his team practiced and played through fall, winter and spring “... It was far from ideal, but I feel very fortunate that we were able to provide a very positive and productive season that, I think, did a lot to further their development.”
Avon and Salisbury both return talented rosters dotted with college commitments and should be able to use last season’s experiences to their benefit. Like the Winged Beavers and Crimson Knights, Trinity-Pawling also played double-digit games last season.
This article appears in the November/December print edition of New England Hockey Journal.
