A new four-team senior amateur hockey league has been formed in the west, with organizers expecting to provide fans with a modified 12-game schedule that would see all four centres play a home-and-home series against the other three entries — in an effort to gauge the interest level from both the players and the fans.
It’s the starting point to getting a west coast senior hockey league off the ground next winter, and Guy believes there are players who will embrace the chance to play some competitive hockey.
“It gives a lot of guys a chance to play a bit of competitive hockey anyway,” Guy said. “If you’re not old enough to play rec hockey, there’s not a lot going on.”
The Corner Brook Royals folded from the Central West Senior Hockey League earlier this year, which left the west coast of the province with no senior hockey.
However, movers and shakers in the various centres have joined forces to bring hockey back, but not the expensive product that was the case when imports were making big bucks as weekend warriors.
Guy knows there are players in the city who could have played senior hockey in the last number of years, but didn’t bother with it because they didn’t think they would get a game with so many imports and locals from outside the region signed to cards.
He figures there are still a few of them lingering around, so all four centres should be able to recruit enough players to form a team.
“I really think this would be great for all the centres,” he said.
League organizers are working on getting Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador (HNL) to confirm special status for the league when it comes to insurance coverage for the players. That is expected to be done this week, according to HNL vice-chair senior council Andy Brake, so then it will be a matter of teams holding some open practices to prepare them for some live action as early as mid-March.
A new four-team senior amateur hockey league has been formed in the west, with organizers expecting to provide fans with a modified 12-game schedule that would see all four centres play a home-and-home series against the other three entries — in an effort to gauge the interest level from both the players and the fans.
It’s the starting point to getting a west coast senior hockey league off the ground next winter, and Guy believes there are players who will embrace the chance to play some competitive hockey.
“It gives a lot of guys a chance to play a bit of competitive hockey anyway,” Guy said. “If you’re not old enough to play rec hockey, there’s not a lot going on.”
The Corner Brook Royals folded from the Central West Senior Hockey League earlier this year, which left the west coast of the province with no senior hockey.
However, movers and shakers in the various centres have joined forces to bring hockey back, but not the expensive product that was the case when imports were making big bucks as weekend warriors.
Guy knows there are players in the city who could have played senior hockey in the last number of years, but didn’t bother with it because they didn’t think they would get a game with so many imports and locals from outside the region signed to cards.
He figures there are still a few of them lingering around, so all four centres should be able to recruit enough players to form a team.
“I really think this would be great for all the centres,” he said.
League organizers are working on getting Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador (HNL) to confirm special status for the league when it comes to insurance coverage for the players. That is expected to be done this week, according to HNL vice-chair senior council Andy Brake, so then it will be a matter of teams holding some open practices to prepare them for some live action as early as mid-March.
