The forms have been sent out for this year’s minor hockey league registration — but what comes next for the Lac La Biche Minor Hockey Association in hockey’s pandemic playbook is still not frozen into place.
Association officials were given the go-ahead by their governing body, Hockey Alberta, to start the registration process, in order to prepare “for which ever direction is determined,” said LLBMHA vice-president Jeff Erick.
Those directions are outlined in a number of scenarios still being discussed by Hockey Alberta officials.
“We are following the direction of Hockey Alberta’s return to play model,” Erick told the POST, explaining that the local association is also waiting on the say-so of the regional North Eastern Alberta Hockey League, as well as with municipal guidelines for the use of specific arena use.
Officials with the NEAHL are expected to hold an annual general meeting in the near future to determine the landscape for playing hockey with COVID-19 protocols in place.
“Additionally, we are waiting on the Bold Centre to have rules and protocols in place so we can create our plans accordingly,” said Erick, admitting that waiting on several other groups to create plans involves “tons of info, and (is) a bit confusing).”
Local association representatives are expected to be meeting with Lac La Biche County officials in the next little while to discuss local operations and expectations.
Erick and the association members realize it might be a little challenging for the hundreds of parents and players right now, but says when more information is known, it will be shared.
“There isn’t much to answer right now … Not much to share. Once we know more, we will be happy to share what we have,” he said.
In recent days, some notices for conditioning camps and skills training have been posted on local hockey social media sites.
Those events are also awaiting confirmation from Lac La Biche County officials regarding ice times and protocols at Lac La Biche’s Bold Center arenas and the Plamondon arena.
Municipal rinks
Discussing the plans for local ice recently, Lac La Biche County’s senior manager of recreation and community enhancement Darrell Lessmeister said the issues range from simple questions like “how do you play hockey six feet away from someone,” to more complex issues pertaining to hygiene and maintenance scheduling. Like the minor hockey association, Lessmeister says part of the challenge is co-ordinating with other groups like Hockey Canada, the local college with its senior collegiate hockey team.
Two weeks ago, Portage College athletics officials announced their hockey season would be delayed until the start of 2021 as they planned out pandemic protocols for their players, staff and community members. But over the long weekend, the college’s athletics director Nate Bedford announced that all sports programming at the college would be cancelled throughout the entire 2020-2021 school year.
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During the last update on progress, Lessmeister said municipal officials were still planning to have the two Bold Center rinks flooded and frozen by August 15. Plamondon Arena ice was not expected until the beginning of October.
Lessmeister said that no matter which group is trying to create a plan, they all have the same goal in mind.
“We want to make sure that we are protecting the public, players and staff,” he said.
