It’s been a long time since Andrew Will spent the month of December away from a hockey rink. Maybe not since he was a little kid has he missed the start of a season.
Even then, while growing up in Toronto, that probably wasn’t very likely.
Last week, after Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced a statewide pause on all team and club sports, pushing the start of the winter season back until Jan. 19, the 13-year Salisbury School head coach was forced to grapple with the stark but increasingly expected reality that this December wouldn’t be the same as the rest.
For the first time in a long time, it doesn’t mean the start of a new hockey season.
“It’s extremely bizarre” Will told New England Hockey Journal on Monday. “It just doesn't feel right. For a long time here and most of my life, December is an exciting time of year because there's a lot of activity in terms of games, and in prep school there’s the holiday tournaments, all surrounded by the approaching holidays.”
In the past seven days, Connecticut has reported more than 11,000 new cases of COVID-19, the second-most in New England behind Massachusetts, according to the CDC.
For everyone in the state involved in sports, it’s a major hit to the winter calendar.
“I liken it a bit to families that are in education,” Will said. “Just the rhythm and flow of that cycle where you're used to vacations being around the summers and the holidays, and hockey has that rhythm to it. For that to be disrupted is really strange.”
The pause affects all sports activities for youth, high school, prep and adult leagues.
College and professional sports teams are not affected. The state defines “team” as a group of four or more people engaged in athletic activities on a field, court or rink.
“The first reaction that I had, and that we had, was obviously just the disappointment for the kids,” Will said of the state’s decision to delay the season. “Just in light of how hard they've been working and how committed they've been to try to adhere to the rules and policies that our school and all these schools have in place to give them a chance to play. To have that be denied for the time being is really disappointing.”
With the pause, all team scrimmages, competitions, camps, clinics and tournaments, including interscholastic “pick-up” games and other informal events, are prohibited.
Teams are not allowed to break up into smaller groups to practice or compete at the same location and time but may do so if they’re in individual groups of four or fewer.
Most prep schools, like Salisbury, are back to remote learning until the end of the year now, anyway, so they can’t do much aside from await the January go-ahead even if they were able to.
Before the start of the holiday break on Nov. 22 – the pause went into effect Nov. 23 – the Crimson Knights managed to play six scrimmages against a couple of in-state prep teams, Avon Old Farms and Canterbury, without running into any major hiccups.
“It felt extremely safe,” Will said. “All three schools were on the same page in terms of the safety protocols and the testing protocols. It was a little bit different in terms of not having locker rooms and arriving at the games half-dressed when you're traveling. But, you know, that really just took a back seat to the kids having a chance to compete and play and have that experience, so it was fun. It was really exciting.”
In a year with so much turmoil, with more hardships seemingly on the horizon, it was nice to get back to normal for a little bit, Will said, especially before the pause.
“I think all three schools really appreciated having the chance to, at least, get a little bit of a season under way before the kids went home for Thanksgiving, so it was terrific. It was really great to get the kids together who have been practicing and dreaming for so long to actually get out and compete.
“It was really enjoyable, so you know that that's another reason for optimism come late January, is that I think our experience and the experience with the other schools were really positive and safe.”
If all goes according to plan between now and Jan. 19 when the pause is set to expire, teams will look to get at least part of a season in. Undoubtedly, it will look different, but that’s not the point.
“Everybody's going to try and do the best they can, given their schools and their circumstances,” Will said. “Because of the travel ban, our goal is going to be to try and keep it Connecticut focused, so that if the rinks do open, we don't have to worry about not being able to travel out of state.
“I think there are things about the prep school model that really can work and are really safe. But, at the same time, we completely understand the importance of safety and following the state-mandated guidelines. So, it's disappointing, but at the same time we're just trying to be optimistic that when we are allowed to resume in January, hopefully we'll be able to get in six or seven weeks of games at that time.”
Liam Flaherty can be reached at liam.flaherty@hockeyjournal.com and on Twitter @_LiamFlaherty.
